After a great discussion with a colleague Rebecca B. Sargeant (RBS-Staffing), this blog entry hit me. So thanks Rebecca for nudging my blog-ism today!

Let me set-up a picture for you, one that if you are a recruiter you are likely very experienced in such situations. Networking event, diversity of professionals are present, Directors, Operation Managers, Human Resources, Recruiters etc. You introduce yourself, “Hi, I’m Lisa Switzer” – the obvious first question usually is, “Well, hello Lisa. What do you do?” This is the TSN turning point at the networking event, are you going to get the touchdown or get tackled. For recruiters especially, this is the moment they brace themselves - why? Because they know the common responses once they’ve announced they are recruiters, “Oh, I see” or “Mmhmm, ok” or “Oh”. Much like the kiss of death, those responses clearly alert you to where a recruiter falls on the totem pole. The question we recruiters ask is “But Why?”

Here is what my experience and networks have brought to my attention about the recruiter title. Majority of my experience in recruiting has been through my professional HR background. With that said, yes it is true, I to have dropped the “Oh, I see” or “Mmmhmm, ok” or “Oh” response to my share of recruiting professionals. Why? Because the first thing most organizations either directly or indirectly communicate to their HR department is, “Do not use agencies or external recruiters, that’s why we hired you”. Why would organizations be so clear cut on this – most have been (what they consider) burned by one too many agencies and thus they now paint all recruiters with the anti-agency brush. As an HR professional, one of my pet peeves was how many recruiters would aggressively attempt to dominant the conversation, they had their own agendas and didn’t stop to “assess the organizations needs”. The best part was when they would forward me resumes (and this is confirmed by my peers across different organizations in HR) that I already had...yes that’s right, this recruiter was certain they had the right candidate for me but I had just printed that same resume from an online database. So ask yourself, why would an organization pay a recruiters finder’s fee for a resume they just printed off (plus 20 others) from a resume database that they already have a membership with.

So here is my point in all of this – our/your worst enemy really is other recruiters. You know what I mean, the recruiters that are loud and seem to catch every press-release they can ram their names and heads into...the problem lies in their recruiting practices - the ram square pegs into round holes and whatever it takes to get the quick pay-hit practice. What we are facing really is a recruiter vs. recruiter environment. The key is to differentiate your recruitment etiquette, don’t be afraid to focus on building the customer relationship first before discussing any candidates. Plus, get to know your local recruiters and agencies, figure out who approaches business the way you do, and who you should absolutely ensure you are not in any way perceived to be associated with.

Recruiter vs. recruiter – share your stories – what has your experience been?