Recruitment is dead, recruitment is bad, recruitment needs change… No it doesn’t and here is three simple reasons why.
Point 1
The first is if you are jumping on the recruitment needs to change bandwagon, because it is trending on LinkedIn and will make you look good then you are going to fail to change anything as you have the wrong motivation for change. Bandwagon Marketing is what is shite, so get off the bandwagon and be original.
Reality check: For all its benefits LinkedIn is a drop in the ocean of what people really think about recruitment and that drop is heavily influenced by the algorithm that delivers us the content we see most. The reality is 83% of what recruiters do is provide temps/contractors, and they do it exceptionally well.
Perm recruiters do exceptionally well considering contingency perm recruitment is like swimming the Thames with one arm and a ford fiesta tied to your right foot.
The elephant in the room when it comes to temps/contractors is the money to pay temps/contractors comes from money secured on the assets of 20,000 plus recruitment firms and the creditability of their accounts and assets. Big money can’t match that risk curve for money lenders which is why there has never been a disruptor like Uber in recruitment because bank/finance houses don't want the risk of dealing with one Uber for several million temps/contractor pay when they can have their risk spread across 20,000 directors assets for the same workers If you can’t change the money delivery you have limited ability to change 83% of what the industry does.
Point 2
For every complaint you can make about a recruiter you can make more for a candidate or client and how they treat recruiters.
The problem recruiters face is they are the punch bag in the middle of a boxing match with the candidate in the red shorts and the client in the blue shorts.
Job seeking is personal to the job seeker and business to the employer (with a heavy dose of politics and as we sadly know unconscious bias) that is quite some process for a recruiter to try and referee.
Last time I looked recruiters had been blamed for everything accept the assignation of Kennedy.
Recruiters are just not as bad as the LinkedIn bubble your algorithm serves up, would have you believe. Alls this blue on blue of other recruiters calling other recruiters also does not help, if enough of you in the LinkedIn bubble you just give clients in the same bubble the reason to ask for 10% fees #dumbarse.
Point 3
The biggest change the new recruiter or start up recruiter will achieve is work life balance.
I have been the biggest biller in my career and fired for not hitting my target as well. As the biggest biller I never was allowed to let off because more was always needed by my employers to balance the books of the non-performers.
As a non-performer if I just banked what I did as a work from home consultant I'd have 4 times the money I got paid as a recruiter and I would not fire myself, well maybe I would on some days!
My recruitment career started in the 90's and if I had the tools recruiters have today, either as a big biller or fired for not hitting target recruiter I'd have gone for start-up and work life balance over corporate life. I am not saying I had it hard just the tools you have now make it more practical to work for yourself.
I work with lots of start-ups now and I see the ambition to build a business that is life improving not to be sold for ￡50M. I think the 90/OO's was more build and sell, now I think it is more build and live well.
To live well in recruitment as a recruiter start up or not, aiming to change the world or not you will still face more clients that will try to back door you than you let down.
You will still have more candidates ghost you than you ghost at the critical point in the process like offers that get made and the candidate turns into the invisible man/woman and in 5 years recruitment is shit will still be trending on LinkedIn because as a society we do love a whinge!
Tell me I am wrong...
P.S. If you can spare any money, this appeal is for recruiters to donate money to buy laptop for kids who have none so are not able to home school properly.
Founder & Tech Practice Director Solving Complex Talent Challenges in Data, SaaS, AI, Cloud, & Cyber | Scaling Tech Teams with Expert Contractors & Fractional Consultants | Personal Brand & Career Coach for Tech Leaders
4 年Bang on the money Darren. I totally agree that lots of recruitment business leaders are choosing lifestyle over scale and sale. Great to see a more relaxed healthy mindset developing in our industry. A desire for rapid growth doesn’t always offer a golden ticket to happiness!
Founding Director of Introlegal (Non-practising Solicitor) Host of the Podcast series 'Let's Talk Law'
4 年Fantastic article Darren
Connecting IT Professionals to Leading Life Sciences Companies | Staffing Solutions | Permanent | Contract | Motorcycle Enthusiast | Travel Lover
4 年You make some great points here Darren R., thanks for sharing your thoughts ??
Head of Marketing at Paiger | Win new business, attract candidates and build personal brands | Book your demo today - paiger.co
4 年Great post. Love this “Bandwagon Marketing is what is shite, so get off the bandwagon and be original.”
Sales Director | Helping Recruiters hit target & go home early
4 年Nice post. The people I meet are typically start-ups, having been dropped by their employers when the cash ran out - and now they're left holding the cards (relationships, contacts and skills). It's will be a sea of start-ups right now, and I suspect they're the best of the best. Work/life balance for sure seems to be today's motivator. Crikey, they need a decent website (know anyone Darren?) and decent Recruitment CRM that let's them focus on the recruiting rather than the administering.