Recruiters are a much-maligned species.
They are seen as the “market traders” of talent, handing on their wares with barely a second glance, adding little of value to the transaction. A good candidate comes onto their radar, and they peddle them out to a host of likely customers. The infamous “10-second glance” will tell them everything they need to know about the candidate, and the candidate themselves tell them the companies that they would like to join. Easy-peasy, no brainer. Thank you, that will be £8,000, please.
Well, needless to say, that finding the right match is rarely as easy as this.
Recruiters have to delve deep into the heads of our candidates and clients to understand their unspoken motivations. What the corporate line demands and what an individual manager wants is often very different. What a candidate sees as their added value is not always the reason that they are hired. We have to be psychologists at every step, and we are in a privileged position that we are trusted by all parties to act as such.
Therefore, when I see recruiters posting about how they go about their work, it makes me sad to see them attracting “haters” in the comments section. Yes, there will always be a high percentage of people who lose out in any recruitment transaction, but that does not mean that a recruiter’s words are worthless. There is an unfortunate majority of recruitment cowboys out there, but please don’t tar us with the same brush. There are many of us who want to share our knowledge, but there are also many who are afraid to do so for fear of being attacked.
I would be bold enough to say that everyone will require the services of a recruiter at some point in their lives. Rather than attacking them, why don’t people engage with them and get to know them a little? I have been blogging for nearly two years now, and I have learned much from the comments on the blogs that I have written. I hope that people have understood a little about me at the same time.
There will always be a need for a matchmaking service between candidates and clients. Technology and big data will help to enable this process, but there will always be the need for a human aspect to smooth over initial relationships. Listening to and getting to know a few recruiters will give potential future candidates a better insight into the way they think. You never know, it might give you that extra advantage one day.
So, read a few recruiter blogs and engage with them freely. You never know, you might be surprised that you get to like them. They are simply people with a job to do, just like you.
Don’t dismiss them – they could unlock the door to your dream role one day.