I’m a recruiter, and I love my job BUT I hate everyone out there making my job so damn difficult. And by everyone, I mean the stereotype recruiter. I really hate you.
I get it, there are loads of us out there calling at bad times, emailing you the wrong address, sending you CV’s or job specs that may not tick all the boxes, or maybe sending you stuff you didn’t even ask for in the first place. BUT, that’s not me, nor who I aspire to be. In fact, that’s the person I hate.
Let me ask you a few things;
Can you tell me about a bad experience you’ve had dealing with a recruiter? (I can see you all nodding right now behind your screens, secretly screaming ‘OF COURSE I CAN’)
Can you tell me about a great experience you’ve have had with a recruiter? (The silence is deafening)
Now let me ask you;
Following a bad experience, have you ever given anyone else a chance to prove you wrong? This is where I come in. This is where I like to show you how good it can be. Dealing with a recruiter can be great in fact. But, this is also the point when I often get cut off.
I get it, the industry is saturated with plenty of recruitment agencies not doing their job properly, so why trust me? BUT, there are also plenty getting their commission for NOT doing their job; sending out a CV to a company whom they haven’t taken a job spec from, of a candidate they haven’t got permission from, just for a piece of the pie.
Too many times I pick up the phone to a potential client, begin to say, ‘Hello my name is’, only to be interrupted immediately and told that the company are not hiring, they don’t work with recruitment agencies or even the polite sound of an unwanted phone call; the dial tone.
Similarly, whilst speaking to active candidates, they tell me of their frustrations when dealing with other agencies who proceed to send irrelevant job specs, offering salaries far lower than their current earnings, no prospects, wrong location…the list goes on. It makes me wonder, why the typical, stereotypical recruiter is wasting their time.
Now let me tell you why I love my job; and let me thank you, stereotype recruiter for doing such a bad job that I come across a miracle maker!
I love my job. I love it because I’m building businesses, I’m building relationships and I’m building my own confidence. I love to hear people scream their excitement once they have secured their dream role, and I love it when they say thank you. I love it when clients find comfort in me because I’m not being the stereotype recruiter, and we are successful, and they call back… and again, and again.
So although stereotype recruiter I hate you, for making that first call so damn difficult, I must warn you that I’m rising to the challenge, overcoming your previous mistakes and I’m being successful. Maybe you should think about that for a minute.
Written by Molly Shoesmith, Senior Consultant, GKR London Property Recruitment
