So, I spend a lot of time complaining about the behaviour of recruiters, mostly because they’re either horrible human beings, or because they’re forced to BE horrible human beings by their overlords who are horrible human beings and are perfectly happy spamming, cold calling, LinkedIn baiting, and all the other awful stuff that recruiters do, like not listening, ignoring requests, only doing rudimentary keyword matching etc. If you want to have me NOT complain about you and your behaviour, and if you ever want to stand a chance of being on my PSL, you’d be best to take heed of the following list.
- Call me first: If I don’t take your call that’s because I’m busy or don’t want to speak with you. If it’s the former it’s likely that within 4 or 5 calls you’ll get hold of me, if it’s the latter it’s likely I’ll keep “being in a meeting” of course feel free to carry on but youre just wasting your own time (and mine, and the receptionists) and so you’re NEVER getting anywhere with that plan!
- Do offer to come over and see me; I like to look into the eyes of the people that I work with, I like you to take the time to explain to me how you work, I like you to show that you understand my agency and my business – I like talking about what we do and how you can help!
- Understand who I am and what requirements I have; I don’t use contractors (so if you work the contractor desk, DON’T phone me as its a waste of your time and mine, and the receptionists); On permanent I have a PSL, and it’s expandable if you show that you know what you’re talking about – don’t tell me that you’re an expert, prove that you’re an expert – and not at using a database, at what I do (I dont need you to be a programmer, but it would be nice if you knew the difference between HTML and .NET)
- Don’t send me emails that I’ve not asked for; my time is limited, I get many emails and if you’re sending me things that I don’t expect or want then that’s more things for me to filter through; I’ll remember your name in a negative light if you keep making me read emails that I’m not interested in. By all means introduce yourself if you think that you’re the right fit for me and my agency, but if you get nothing back then cut your losses (see 1. above, not giving in does not guarantee results)
- And definitely don’’t send me speculative CVs, absolutely nothing annoys me more – because lets be honest, it’s going to be either a) someone I’m not interested in, or b) someone I am interested in and have no budget to take on – either way, you just annoyed me, a lot – when I want to see people, I’ll ask you, okay?
- When you do send me CVs (because I’ve asked for them), then please put names on them. I’m not going to go off and introduce myself to them, but I am going to look at their social media profiles and try to get an idea of who the people behind the words are, its really hard to do when you send me candidate J3576359G. Trust eh?
- Don’t add me to your consultancy lists; When you ask if you can send me your details over and I say yes, that’s me accepting you as a person with a face who I’m happy to deal with – I don’t want to be on a list where everyone in your organisation calls or emails me.
- Equally, don’t _you_ send me bulk emails, recruitment is about relationships, nothing says “I don’t care” like an email blast with a “personalised” name in the header. I’m not just a faceless public sector HR manager!
- That said, please DO keep your records on who I am up to date! Salesforce or whatever other CRM package you use should be able to allow you to create some fairly detailed notes on me, and what I like and hate in a recruiter (how I like to work) and in candidates (good personal hygiene). In an industry where high staff turnover isn’t unheard of, why do you think I’d want to work with a recruiter who is having to relearn my wants and needs whenever anyone leaves!
- Oh, spell my name right. It’s Matt, or it’s Mathew (If you’re my MOTHER). It’s NOT Mat (NEVER), and it’s NOT Matthew (EVER). Oh, and I’m a brand nazi so you’ll probably want to get the name and capitalisation of the company I work at right too (twentysix, no Digital). You’d not call it CokaCola FizzyDrinks would you?
Ultimately boys and girls, I’m a person, a human being and if you treat me like one, I’ll treat you like one. That doesnt mean I’ll always give you a role to work on, but it does mean that I won’t write about you and your consultancies reprehensible policies on the internet. It’s not hard folks, it’s courtesy, respect and understanding. Now, go forth and recruit!
