An improving jobs climate may soon force recruiters to listen to what’s been said about them. But when the going’s good again, will they really care about their communities?
As the number of UK marketing jobs continues to rise, today’s candidate may well be tomorrow’s client. And if this is true, recruiters have some smartening up to do…
Recruiters have had their say so here’s what the candidates think should be done to improve the jobseeker/recruiter relationship:
1. Return the call
Unsurprisingly the no.1 gripe from jobseekers is recruiters not returning their calls or responding to emails. Whilst a recent UK Marketing Lounge LinkedIn discussion compounded the issue by suggesting it “used to be better years ago” it also conceded that [recent events] have seen recruiters “overloaded with candidates”. In any event, though, customer service is now “not that good”.
Rarely before has the phrase Catch 22 been better exemplified than in the recent jobs market. As recruiters battle to contain the influx of applications, the demand for public relations increases.
By returning a phone call it is possible to learn more about a candidate than is evident from a CV. Rather than letting a ‘CV scanner’ do the work, “why don’t recruiters spent more time getting to know their applicants in a way technology cannot possibly achieve”, it is considered?
2. Stop being estate agents
Not that there’s an abundance of those around these days!
“I only trust recruiters I have met,” opined one jobseeker. “Most recruiters see candidates with a fee stuck to their head. Why can’t they meet their prospects face-to-face, instead of acting like some sort of CV factory?”
Of course, it is impossible to consider that any recruiter in the current market could possibly meet every prospective candidate – there would be no time in the day to identify the jobs. But perhaps by organising an event or gathering it might be possible to kill a number of eager birds with one particularly clever stone? Just a thought. [ed]
3. It’s my career, not yours
“Career choices are among the most important decisions of our lives. And it’s not just about individuals, either. It impacts on our families and their lifestyles, too,” suggests one former jobseeker. “To this end I would encourage all recruiters to treat candidates as humans, rather than a set of electronic acronyms that tick the boxes”.
4. Fake job ads
One freelance web marketing consultant is fed up with the number of duplicate – or even fictitious – jobs posted online. “When I’ve spoken with recruiters I get the impression they only ever work on more than, say, five jobs at any one time. And this makes sense. Why then do I see four-times this number being advertised with the same consultant’s name? With the alleged number of applications per job it is little wonder there’s no time to respond to them all. Whatever happened to employers advertising in the paper? At least you knew they were real jobs”.
Evolution, eh!
5. Feedback, please…
“Even if I don’t get the job, I still want expect feedback,” is the overwhelming feeling of the UK marketing jobseeker. Of course, in recruitment terms, no news is bad news and whilst candidates are beginning to realise this, frustration at the lack of tangible communication post-interview is a genuine concern. In most instances recruiters are driven by their clients and in the absence of feedback from them, there is nothing to pass on. Which brings us to…
6. Manage my expectations
By definition marketers are educated folk who take their careers seriously and, much like today’s hardworking recruiters, don’t have time to waste. So an update on the status of a job application would ease both concerns and frustration. And it doesn’t have to be a phone call, either. “I’d be happy if my recruitment agent dropped me an email quickly explaining the situation. Then I know and I can work around it,” one jobseeker explains. “In the absence of this information I’m likely to do one of two things: 1) call the recruiter for answers, or 2) give up thinking about it. In either regard I’ll lose respect for the recruiter.
7. You’re not the MI5
Not knowing who the end client is can be frustrating.
The advent of social media and the development of the digital engagement in which this phoenominum sits, has increased our expectations on transparency. With so much freely accessible information the need for recruiters to keep the identity of their clients secret has receded. Furthermore, most employers now operate refined preferred supplier lists, reducing further the information ‘leak’. On this matter one marketing manager suggests “it is impossible to tailor a CV to meet the employer’s expectations if the company is unknown. Plus, I’m able to keep a secret”.
8. Know your client
“A recruiter reciting a job brief without having the faintest idea what the client is really looking for, is the definition of annoyance,” claims one marketing manager. So the second part of the job title ‘Recruitment Consultant’ has never been more important. The ability to grasp the client’s actual requirement, rather than the proposed ideal one, is essential. And it’s not just about the tangible skills, either. Sending a fox-hunter to interview for the League Against Cruel Sports is unlikely to produce a result, for example.
Getting under the skin of your client (so consulting) will reap rewards both for the short-term placement and the long-term business development. Though as Chris Callaway, owner of specialist recruiter Financial Marketing Recruitment says: “It has become more difficult to foster a relationship with a line manager, since much of recruitment is managed by large outsourcing agencies, whose HR personnel are administrators with little understanding of recruitment or the company they represent.”
9. Stop spamming my CV
“Yes, we want a job,” scream jobseekers in unison, “but not at the detriment to our integrity.” Whilst in today’s over-subscribed climate there should be no excuse for sending unsolicited CVs, it still happens. Quick to win the race against registration deadlines, some recruiters continue to bombard prospective clients with CVs from candidates who know nothing about it. Whilst on the face of it the jobseeker should be ‘grateful’ for this ‘proactvity,’ the upshot is often a web of confusion.
10. Don’t go all ‘social media’
Social networking is fantastic. It opens doors and provides windows of opportunity that would otherwise go unnoticed. But there’s still nothing better than a cup of tea and a chat.
So recruiters, what do you think of these comments? Are they fair? Jobseekers, do you agree with this? What’s your candidate experience been like?
Read what recruiters want from jobseekers in 13 ways to impress your recruiter
Please note: these views are those of jobseekers and in no way reflect the opinion of Only Marketing Jobs. We think both our communities are great!
Simon Lewis | Editor | Only Marketing Jobs
