Why you still need a Recruiter...
Tom Baker developer, Marketing, Technology...
I Walked into recruitment in the July of 2010. Fresh eyed and ready to make a success of myself. Like most people alive at that time, I was aware of the 2008 recession but I couldn’t have imagined it would be so hard. Not just to make a placement but to find anyone that actually wanted to hire nearly 2 years after it had happened! I’m not sure it was any harder than it had been before or since, but it was quite clear that the situation was forcing everyone to re-think how we were recruiting. In the hunt for extra gains there was the analysis of how we communicated, how we researched, how we marketed. It was felt that all aspects required an overhaul. The reality however, was that the market picked up and there just wasn’t the time to make as many adjustments; so everyone returned to year on year of increased profit and got on with it.
The last couple of years has seen a new crossroads for the recruitment industry. Short sightedness in rate negotiations and candidate driven markets have given rise to an industry that is now seen as less helpful to a company and more of a nuisance. One that’s perceived as putting profit above service. How did an industry that turns over £45 billion annually get such a bad reputation?
Is it this perceived stereotype that has given rise to the idea that in order to be successful and build a good reputation you must now be considered the “Modern Recruiter”?
From the many articles that exist on LinkedIn and within basic level training literature, the idea of a modern recruiter is to embrace technology and put more emphasis on candidate and client relationships. Yet surely, anyone who’s ever worked in business would tell you that this is an idea that has been going on within commerce for centuries. To me and many others it’s pretty simple, the more you pay attention to whom you are working with and the specific needs of that individual, the more likely you are to develop a meaningful relationship and the better chance you ALL have to prosper from the results. Approaching it in this manner will cause those dealing with us to become more appreciative of the work we do. The benefits of using a recruiting company will be almost renewed and cause more people and organisations to put us at the heart of the recruitment process again.
This is also not something that just relates to recruitment because any company developing a service or product needs to understand the need of the end user and solve that specific need, if it has any chance of success.
We are all guilty of poor decision making and this article is not meant to come across sanctimonious but where the recruitment industry is guilty more than most right now, is its willingness to exploit those developed relationships and then, to almost highlight the nature of the work with vulgar marketing campaigns that only serve to alienate it’s customers. This is simply a call to get back to what we, within the recruitment industry, do well. Putting our customers first.
Recruitment relies on the candidate first and foremost. Without people leaving and starting new jobs the process breaks down. If we continue to be looked upon as a commodity, only required when a company has the money to pay for it or when a candidate has exhausted their own network then we may just end up becoming an afterthought. Before we try to become the “modern recruiter” we need to just be “A Recruiter” and do it properly.
Don’t get me wrong, as long it adds value I love the introduction of more technology. However, the technology is there to get us Recruiters to the client and candidate as quickly as we can. It is not there to shortcut the one thing that defines the service we provide and people pay for. Personal interaction, requirement gathering and rapport that cannot ever be shortcut, replicated or replaced.