Who doesn't hate recruitment agencies?

So my first post, got to be a bit controversial or at the least interesting, so here goes.

My industry stinks...no seriously name another industry that impacts on an individuals life more than recruitment?  Midwifery possibly, undertaker maybe, parents/wife/husband/partner well clearly that depends :-). To most people the single biggest factor on how good they feel, how successful they are, how prosperous they are, the car they drive, the house they own (if these things are important), the person they settle down with is impacted/determined by the job(s) they get.  So in that context current recruitment practice is tantamount to a 2 minute test drive in a £100,000 car or a 2 minute visit to a new home you will buy.  The people facilitating the recruitment transaction are frequently ill-trained (if at all), incentivised on placement (not the quality of it) and have absolutely no qualification to do the job bar possibly being naive or vunerable enough to accept it...it's rubbish. Name another industry with that burden of responsibility that has no regulation or even governing body.

How do I know this, well two things I have worked for those agencies and been at the crappy end of their service as a client.  In addition Chemistry Recruitment (http://chemistryrecruitment.com) carried out a proposition project with one of the coolest companies on the block, Dave (http://dave.biz). The findings were staggering we (recruitment consultants) were hated and the service offering ripped apart, really, we are, and i quote, "a necessary evil" - FTSE 100 CEO.  Nice, that's what I wanted to be when i grew up :-)

Of course it's partly the recruitment consultants clients fault because despite the fact that the service to the client is shoddy (unreturned calls, inappropriate CVs, irrelevant and ill-informed candidates presented to interview being the less provocative complaints) and the service to candidates is well just nonsense, seriously laughable nothing has been done by the buying community to stop it, where's the "push back"?  It needs to change but i believe the customer needs to lead the change...the recruiters won't, Christ they are making too much easy money doing it the current way, where's the incentive!

In the meantime if you are a hiring manager to get the best out of your recruitment supplier, know the animal you are dealing with:

1. They play closest to the fee, if you are not paying a competitive rate you will not get to to see the best candidates, fact!  It may save a few pennies up front screwing the supplier down on their fee but you will lose more by having to hire from the least relevant bunch of candidates.
2. They work to the principal of least effort.  If you are easy to deal with, have a quick interview process, provide speedy feedback (note I said speedy not detailed) and don't ask them to fill in reports or interview notes you will get a better level of service.
3. If you don't like the recruitment consultant you are dealing with, get him/her changed.  On the whole recruitment companies are rubbish, however every now and again an individual might be brilliant.  Of course they will leave and the relationship with the agency will die a death but hey that's just what happens, right?

Follow these simple rules and you will get the best of a bad lot.

So where's the good news?

Well there are a couple of good 'uns out there:

Martin Noakes at Christian Timbers (only search practice i know who audit and publish their placement stats) (http://www.ctnet.com/ctnet/)

Curly Moloney at Bright Young Things (http://www.byt.com)

and of course if you really want to do it properly contact Chemistry Recruitment (http://chemistryrecruitment.com), I know a cheap plug :-).

Cheers

R

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