Is Your Recruiter Short Changing You?

I work in search and recruitment, and I am going to discuss my personal experiences in the recruitment world from all 3 sides of the coin.

I find myself in quite a unique position to give a balanced view of the topic. A view that empathises with all stakeholders.

So…I have been a candidate looking for a job. I have been an entrepreneur looking to hire candidates. And now I am a recruiter, helping both entrepreneurs and candidates look for someone.

Before highlighting how you may be getting short-changed, let me set the current scene as I see it.

The Candidates

As far as candidates’ expectations from recruiters go, I don’t think most have any. Recruiters are seen as connectors, matchmakers or dare I say it administration.

In my experience, I assumed the process was just the way it was. Recruiters were doing me a favour in getting me a job, right? As a candidate, what right did I have to expect anything other than a connection to a client?

Why should a recruiter send me carefully scripted emails, calendar invites and documents containing important names, numbers, links and directions (including easy to click Google Map links) to the interview?

Why should a recruiter direct me to news and information about the client? Even a basic instruction to visit or download their website or app ;)

Why should a recruiter want to walk me through the job description (in-person or video) to ensure I ‘get it’?

Why should I be given interview tips and an approach to answer behavioural questions (using the STAR methodology) at the client interview?

Why should I be given a reminder call a few hours before the interview to ensure I don’t create a bad impression by arriving late?

Why should a recruiter follow up with me after the interview to give me feedback?

Sadly, unless the recruiter spoon feeds all of the above, candidates are generally badly prepared for their interview.

The Client

As a client, expectations from a recruiter are different.

I often talk about the Starbucks level of service with my team. For example, Starbucks does not claim to be in the coffee business.

“We are not in the coffee business serving people, but in the people business serving coffee.” — Howard Schultz, Founder and CEO of Starbucks

As an entrepreneur, my personal experiences was mired in frustration, annoyance, and stress. I tried many recruiters and all of them disappointed.

Why should a recruiter insist on meeting the client face to face at the premises of their office to make sure the client can better introduce their organisation, culture and open role(s).

Why should a recruiter rework the job description to ensure it creates a good first impression with the candidate?

Why should a recruiter screen candidates first with a phone call, and then an in-person meeting or video call so the relevancy of candidates submitted is high?

Why should a recruiter prepare a screening document with the help of the client to ensure the right questions are being asked during screening resulting in time saved for the client during interviews?

Why should a recruiter rate the candidates based on a scoring system from the 2 rounds of questions asked so the client can see how they rank?

Why should a recruiter prepare a collaborative dashboard using a cloud-based solution where they have a list of all open positions, ALL candidate screening notes and scores, so the client is not searching their inboxes or calling the recruiter for notes about the candidate.

Why should a recruiter make sure that the filename of the CVs have the candidates full name, recruiter name and role name visible so the client does not have to open the files to see who they are, where they are from and which role they are for?

Why should a recruiter perform psychometric evaluations (based on the Big 5 personality traits) on shortlisted candidates so the client can get to know more about the candidate before they walk in?

Why should a recruiter make it easy for clients to locate CVs and the psychometric reports from the client dashboard (Google Suite) so they don’t have to download and store them somewhere on their local drives?

Why should a recruiter send the candidate a full interview preparation document that helps ensure clients see them on time and prepared?

As a past client engaging with recruiters, these are just some of the questions I had when working with them. These failings prompted me to get involved with Haachi. I wanted to do it the right way. The fair way.

The ubiquitous and low barrier to entry nature of the recruitment industry has resulted in many recruiters cutting corners and adopting practices that are, in my view, not ethical. A recruiters product is the service, so why not focus on that to stay ahead.

So when clients ask if they should get into a retainer relationship or not, they need to first ask themselves whether the recruiter is even capable of providing a service to the level expected? If so, what are they getting for the retainer?

Is the recruiter going to take time to understand the clients brand, culture and role(s)? Do they have the ability to communicate, understand and question people? Do they want a dedicated team working on their hiring? Do they want a recruiter that ask questions about the business and role(s)?

I know what I would prefer.