Don't put a square peg in a round hole

Those of you who have read any of my posts before will know that I'm a rec to rec consultant /business owner (therefore my posts are relevant to our industry). The market remains unchanged. There is still a shortage of candidates, more clients are looking to hire and the pressure is on.

Which is why I get frustrated when I talk to candidates who are being represented by rec to rec firms who simply don't listen! I know it's really hard when our clients are calling /emailing on a daily basis to ask for candidates and they sometimes wonder what the heck we do with our time all day. And yes I also get that as recruiters we need to "sell" opportunities and sometimes throwing in a curve ball to a candidate has resulted in a meeting of minds and a successful placement. However, as consultants in any industry, we need to make sure that we LISTEN to what our candidate wants and match.

I spoke to a recruiter the other day who told me that he loves face to face recruitment, he thrives on the ability to rock up at a client site and pitch face to face. Therefore I was amazed that his other rec to rec consultant was talking him in to an interview with a client who operate UK wide and who clearly prefer their candidates to remain seated at their desks and conversing over the phone. It doesn't matter if they have the best offices, perks, early finishes or even commission, the consultant isn't going to last for very long when they are tied to a desk for 8 hours a day with limited to no face to face contact.

When you work with a rec to rec, we spend time getting to know what your likes and dislikes are, what sectors would work for you, what environment you need and come up with what we like to call a "wish list". We can't always promise that we can achieve this 100% but we will try as much as possible to accommodate those elements that are important. And if it doesn't exist, we will tell you that too!