I’ve worked in Recruitment (agency side) for a long time…! Over that time, the market and industry have changed significantly. To stay ahead of the changing recruitment landscape, we, as recruiters, have had to constantly adapt our methods and styles to enable us to deliver our clients’ needs. It’s been fun, but it hasn’t always been easy! But throughout my tenure in Recruitment, I’ve been blessed to work with some very talented recruiters and some amazing clients (you know who you are).
I have put the below guide together for Business Owners, HR Personnel, and Internal Recruiters on how to get the most from your recruitment partner(s); working collaboratively to make recruitment more effective, efficient, and enjoyable.
Honesty
Nobody is perfect, and we will make mistakes. If we do, please be honest with us. If we send unsuitable CVs, tell us. Tell us where we are going wrong. If we do something you don’t like, tell us. Don’t go quiet on us, blank our calls, emails, etc. If you decide you no longer want to work with us (for whatever reason), just let us know. It doesn’t have to be personal.
Collaborate
We understand that you might rather fill the job directly if possible. But when the time arises that you need to utilise the skills and network of a specialist recruiter, don’t play hardball. Let’s work in partnership, let’s work together. If you choose to use a recruiter, you are implicitly trusting them to act as brand ambassadors to your business; communicating and educating candidates on your vacancy and business. Help us, help you!
Hiring Managers
Often, the hiring manager decides who they want to hire (not the HR or Recruitment team). If we are able to speak directly to the decision maker, we can get everything we need to do our jobs more efficiently and deliver your organisation the talent it needs. We appreciate if you are managing the recruitment that you want to stay on top and involved (it often helps the whole process), but it’s also very important for us to get all the information we need from the team the placement is required for. This will help us to explore the boundaries of candidate suitability, get direct feedback, and provide an honest market appraisal.
Speed
Good candidates will be snapped up quickly – sometimes within a day! (That’s our record anyway). Why? Because companies serious about recruiting the best talent, will act quickly and they listen to us. They know the difficulties we face with high demand vs low supply. If we send you someone that looks good… act fast. Think about the impression on the candidate when they receive a quick turnaround – it demonstrates you are serious and it makes them feel important and wanted. If there is a specific reason you can’t turn feedback around that quickly, that’s fine, but please let us know so we can let the candidate(s) know. Please don’t be offended if we chase you for feedback, We don't want to be letting the candidate down. Delays could also affect your reputation in the market.
Why use a recruiter?
We invest hours, days, weeks, months, and sometimes years into building a network of suitable candidates – we don’t claim to be the best and we are by no means perfect, but we passionately and genuinely believe in doing recruitment the right way; offering honest, consultative, thorough and consistent recruitment solutions to all our clients and candidates.
Thanks for reading!
Thoughts, comments, and opinions are always welcome…