Some hiring managers just don’t get it!

Dear Hiring Manager,

So, just to make sure I clearly understand you.

You consistently call our entire industry ‘cowboys’, who add no value and who cannot, or will not, build relationships. You often warm to your theme by telling us we don’t understand your business or your briefs, fail to match appropriately, never provide insights, and do not invest time to understand the nuances of your company and your unique culture. You deride us as ‘resume shufflers’ and ‘phone-jockeys’, and you publically bemoan the lack of ‘real consultants’, who are professional, and can act as trusted advisors.

I think I have got that now. Thanks for that.

But tell me this please…

If all that is true, why is it that you will not meet with us, even when you have a brief for us to work? Indeed, how can it be that you often won’t even spend time on the phone, but curtly tell us ‘it’s all in the email I sent you?’ Why do you refuse to let us speak to the line-manager, who actually does understand the role being recruited, and why do you fail to respond to our requests for key extra details? Why do you tell us, ‘this is urgent’, then not respond to our shortlist of candidates, or even return calls? Why do you reject candidates that appear to meet the brief exactly, without explanation or feedback? Even worse, why do you interview our candidates and then disrespect them (and us) by giving no feedback whatsoever?

And finally, when we do offer you advice on your brief, the market, the salary and a myriad of other insights that will help you secure the best candidate, why do ignore that advice, or even more likely tell us, (and I paraphrase here, because you are always faultlessly polite) “shut the fuck up and send me more CVs”

Who actually is the unprofessional one here do you think?

*****************************************************************************************************

Subscribe to The Savage Truth, ‘Like’ our Facebook page, and connect with Greg on LinkedIn to ensure you get your recruiting brain-food fix.

*****************************************************************************************************

Comment by Bill Schultz on July 10, 2012 at 1:01pm: Amen, brother.

Comment by Rebecca B. Sargeant on July 10, 2012 at 1:32pm: Hip Hip Hooray!!!

Comment by Amy Ala Miller on July 10, 2012 at 3:13pm: Sadly, corporate recruiters are not immune to this kind of bad behavior. There are a couple (only a couple, thank goodness) of managers I've recruited for who I'd like to print this out and leave on their desks. Of course they'd be sure I was talking about someone else.

Comment by Gordon Alderson on July 11, 2012 at 9:42pm: Greg,

I felt somewhat sad when I read your article.

We are working on developing a SaaS-based tool that will overcome the issues you refer to in your article. I have used this as a MS Excel-based tool for the past 15 years. It works but needs speeding up and that's why we are developing the software version.

Don't get mad with Hiring Managers, Final Decision Makers and Subject Specialists. You need a tool that helps your clients to combine their Collective Intelligence as to the Prime Attributes that an exemplary candidate would have.

With this information at hand recruiting becomes quicker, more respectful of everyone involved and delivers outcomes that are all about quality.

This tool helps them in providing this crucially important information without you needing to meet with them. The success they have in using it will encourage them to call you to meet with them because you will have helped them in ways that no-one else has done.

Now you, as a professional recruiter, will no longer gripe about your clients.

By the way, this works for internal recruiters as well as for external recruiters.

I am sorry that I cannot deliver this to you until we have completed development, testing and field usage here in Australia but please hang in. Help is on its way.

Comment by Greg Savage on July 11, 2012 at 9:48pm: Thanks Gordon

I felt sad writing the article

I must say though, I target here only a small minority of clients

The tool sounds great, however I suspect no tool will work if the attitude and intention to collaborate is missing

Regards

Greg

Comment by Gordon Alderson on July 11, 2012 at 10:48pm: Greg

All consultants (including recruitment consultants) have clients from hell.

When that is the case for our sanity's sake we need to let them go.

However, some clients might look like clients from hell then when we genuinely help them by being creative they can change their ways and become advocate clients.

That's when recruitment consulting becomes so satisfying (and remunerative).