It’s an age old conflict that is as old as the recruitment industry itself. Like cats and dogs, chalk and cheese, Yin and Yang, there seems to be an unnecessary mistrust or dislike between both parties.

In the UK recruitment industry rookie recruiters are taught from day 1 to avoid HR like the plague as it wastes time and is unnecessary instead they are told to contact the line managers directly to sell in their “perfect candidate” or cold call.

It is all too unfortunate that transactional recruitment still exists and recruiters are only interested in CLOSING THAT DEAL instead of meaningful relationships and providing a value returned service.

Obviously not all recruiters are like this, there are some noticeable recruiters that are an exception to the rule!

I was speaking to a friend of mine over the weekend who is a senior recruitment manager for a well known multi-channel retailer based in the North West. I wanted to know what he and his team thought of the majority of recruiters he had the “pleasure” of speaking with and what were the main frustrations. He explained that his major frustration was that most agencies try to bypass HR and contact the line managers directly. He went on to say this deceptive and secretive approach infuriated HR and was pointless as the line managers would always direct the recruiter to HR regardless of how good their sales pitch was.

He went on to say that time and time again he received blind CV’s from agencies claiming to have that perfect candidate. How can any agency that has never spoken to a company let alone worked with them have the perfect candidate?

I think its worth remembering why HR is involved in the hiring process. Their involvement in any hiring process is a necessity as they handle budgets, communication flows, and ultimately protect their businesses from hiring any new talent that may damage or work out detrimental to their business. Whenever a hire turns out to be the wrong choice where does the book land? That’s right HR. Their strict processes and procedures are something the recruitment industry needs to adapt to and work with as this cat and mouse relationship is not benefiting either group.

I think HR value recruiters who make their job easier, are honest and never over promise. I think it’s worth seeing things from each other’s point of view and to value what both parties bring to a recruitment process.

Here at Clever Recruit we learned from spending time in a HR department of our clients and got a feel for all the things HR does. Let me tell you, we have a much greater appreciation for them now.

Who knows we may even learn to love each other in the future.

I’d love your comments!

Be Clever…