How times have changed...

Imagine an employment agency office where all you had was stationery, telephones and a fax machine. It was however filled with the buzz of busy people, smoking at their desks whilst contacting prospective candidates or clients by making telephone calls and every day, scouring the local newspapers to search for jobs to work on and companies to call.

Before the dawn of the communication age, we always met people on a face-to-face basis and kept candidate and client details on sets of different coloured index cards. This primitive database was called upon in a hurry and usually worked. Your index boxes were the keys to your success!

You had brief conversations with candidates about companies followed short conversations with your client about your suitable candidates and then you arranged interviews. A CV wouldn't be required but could be faxed if needed.

That would pretty much be job done. No quibbling about fees, clients asking to see more people, you rarely had to deal with counter offers and very rarely had candidates leave when placed. The norm would be sole supply!

I do feel sometimes that we over complicate where there is no need. Although the paperwork has increased, Right to Work etc, the job itself is about initiating, building and maintaining relationships.

Although I love the speed of which I can work now and the opportunity the internet allows, I do miss those days.

Does anyone else remember what it was like back then and do you miss anything about it?