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Recruiters are not liked. On these pages, readers frequently describe them as ‘estate agents in pointy shoes.’ However, this may not be entirely fair. The source of recruiters’ unpopularity appears to be their failure to explain why you didn’t get the job. But for reasons listed below, expecting this kind of feedback is totally unreasonable.
1) Recruiters are still drowning in candidates
The CEBR estimates that 39,000 jobs have gone across the City of London since 2007. By comparison, our analysis suggests big banks added fewer than 1,500 jobs in the third quarter, and that net, another 2,800 jobs were lost in the nine months of this year.
This is manifesting itself in a deluge of candidates applying for roles they’re completely unsuited for, and persistent telephone calls from the desperate.
“Sometimes a single candidate will bombard me with 15-20 emails applying for jobs. In those circumstances I simply delete the lot,” says one recruiter.
“I receive anything from 50-100 calls a day,” says another. “Out of those, there’s probably one person I can help.”
2) Feedback is not always necessary
If you send in your CV for a job requiring a 2.1 or above and experience in selling equity derivatives to institutional clients, and you only have a 2.2 and have worked as an accountant, then do not be surprised if you get no response at all.
“You may think you’re suitable for a role, but don’t expect us to put you forward if you don’t have the qualifications or experienced specified,” says the head of one recruitment firm.
3) Recruiters aren’t always in a position to give you feedback
Recruiters are messengers. Shooting them is not helpful. You should blame the MDs who interviewed you instead.
“I’m just a link in a chain,” says one recruiter. “If I get feedback from a client, I will give it to my people, but quite often the client simply doesn’t give very detailed feedback.”
Other recruiters agree: “The client will often simply say, “He wasn’t right for the role,” and move on.”
One recruiter describes how a candidate had an interview with a bank several months previously, and heard nothing. Months later, the client then suddenly called asking for a second interview at half an hour’s notice.
“I deal with HR and the HR girls are often slightly scared of the MDs,” he says. “The MDs are impatient and overworked and simply don’t have time to give detailed feedback.”
4) Recruiters suffer alongside you
Another recruiter relates how one candidate decided to approach the MD who interviewed him directly to find out why he didn’t get the role. “He didn’t get anywhere and I received an email from HR asking me to keep my candidates under control,” she says.
5) They’re doing the best they can
These have not been easy times for recruiters either. Many are overstressed and overworked. Sympathy will get you further than irascibility.
“I feel like I’ve been more of a career counsellor than recruiter over the past year,” says one. “There have been hundreds of people through the door and not many jobs. It’s mostly been a question of reassuring them that the market will pick up again soon.”
Sorry, but I don’t buy this. If I take the time to submit my CV for a role, I at least expect some kind of acknowledgement that it’s been received. This is simple human courtesy.
Since when were recruiters courteous?
Recruitment is a 2 way street. If you are a successful candidate and it is your turn to recruit which agency are you going to use? The one that acted professionally, called you back when you were unsuccessful and responded to you emails and calls …………………….. or the one that ignored you, gave no feedback and made you fell like another candidate on the pile!!
If you are good enough… trust me, we’ll call.
Conclusion: they’re estate agents in pointy shoes
If they truely have a job posting they are seeking to fill, then you can expect something back, but not surprisingly there has been so many phantom jobs posted that they truly can’t give feedback for a role that doesn’t exist ? can they ?
If recruiters are indeed just messengers and nothing more, then they should get the messenger’s job. Recruiters should be a professional that’s able to assess client’s needs and give them appropriate candidates. Giving a email response, even an automatically generated one, should be minimum.
If a recruiter calls the candidate, then the recruiter should follow up with the candidate for the whole process because it is the recruiter’s judgment such a candidate fits the profile. If there is no feedback from the employer just keep the candidate updated, at least once a week via email until he is no longer on the short list (or employer got the right candidate).
I do not expect the recruiters to acknowledge my CV due to the vast amounts of CVs they receive for a post they advertise. BUT, if they send you for an interview & you did not get the job, they must let you know that you did not get the job. Recently I have been to few interviews and two different recruiters did not bother to let me know that I did not get the job.
One day they will learn that taking care of their (futur) employees can be good for the company. HR don’t do their job, that’s it. Why do you want to find good excuses?
Since when were recruiters human?
No detailed feedback is understandable. No acknowledgement of the application is as rude on the part of the recruiter as it is disheartening to the job-seeker. This writer should avoid a career change to animal research: the cause of science is not advanced by the clinicians becoming fond of the lab rats.
Simon – Recruiter offer a free service to candidates, I think people forget that sometimes… it is not humanly possible to respond to every single applicant. I am a recruiter and I always send out a standard ‘rejection’ email, but I dont have the time to give the specifics as to why when we receive huge volumes of CV’s every single day.
I prefer to dedicate my time and work hard on those candiates I can place. We work on commission after all…
We are not all bad. But its very simple – if we can make money from you then we will be in contact. If we cant make money from you, then you have to prioritise.
Most recruitment consultants don’t even give any feedback after a job interview, let alone after you’ve only applied for a job.
I’ve attended interviews where I’ve been chased for my feedback even before I’ve left the interview, yet have never heard back from the agency to even let me know I didn’t get the job; I just have to assume that as I’ve not heard from them for a couple of weeks and they’re not returning my calls or emails, that I wasn’t successful.
I would say that I’ve received proper feedback in only about 10% of my interviews, which is not helpful at all. Years ago, I kept making the same mistake at every single interview and nobody told me about it. Only after several interviews for a similar role did somebody bother with feedback and I realised where I’d gone wrong. It was a simple thing and easy to fix; pity nobody bothered to let me know earlier…
At the moment, I’m only applying for roles where I meet the criteria, but the agencies are not contacting me back and letting me know why I’m not being submitted. Occasionally, I get an autoreply back several days/weeks later to say my experience didn’t match the requirements, which I know is not correct.
Feedback following an interview is simply professional if nothing else – frankly, an organisation unable or unwilling to provide such feedback is quite probably an organisation who I wouldn’t want to work for.
As a qualified HR professional working in a sales / business development, giving f/back was a fundamental part of my role as a senior manager, and a basic kindness for someone who put the effort into preparing for an interview with me.
Given the fees charged by recruiters, then my expectation was that they would provide the feedback to their candidates – it was interesting to discover which recruiters went to the trouble of asking how their candidate had done, and what my feedback was. Rather fewer than I would have expected in truth.
Yes, the market is tough – it’s tough for everyone – but ultimately, those organisations who focus on quality and service are the ones who prosper.
Maybe thats the case since the crisis began.. But what about before?
And what can you say, when you have the experience requested, but the recruiter answers briefly that the client asks for a significantly longer experience, circa 15 years, and your CV shows that you have more than 20 years? Does it mean that the “consultant” even doesnt bother to read the resume? Yes
I’m not sure what the recruiters are saying here? The crux seems to be ‘the situation is cr*p so deal with it and stop bothering us’. When candidates are investing time, effort and money into applying for jobs I don’t see why is it unreasonable to expect some feedback if you have made it through to the final interview and then not got the job.
Recruiters don’t have to be courteous. Bankers of all people should understand this. They are targetted and paid on placements. If you are stupid (apply for jobs for which you are unqualified) or incompetent (fail the interview) then you, as a product, are back for refurbishment. Get over it and stop being so precious
Very true, Simon. And in a certain percentage of cases the emails get lost or blocked by the recipient’s server, and only a later phone call can confirm that. An automated email confirming the delivery at least helps you figure that out!
And if recruiters are complaining they are overworked, I can only say – be glad you have a job. At least they are getting paid while we are financing the companies’ slow responses and bizarre recruitment practices from our own pockets.
It’s amazing that when people need a job, they are more than happy to use agencies. It’s a shame people do not realise that a recruiters role is not easy. A good recruiter will always contact a candidate with feedback on the CV, this can be on the phone or via email. The points above are very fair. Some candidates think that they can apply for anything and get feedback. Time is money and silly applications are a waste of time. If the submittal iscorrect then you will recieve feedback.
Andrew, you need to speak to real agencies and not some two bob back street one. All real recruiters are courteous and strive to place every candidate. In the end if you get the job we get paid.
Sarah i think this is a worthless view. When it was a good market everybody loved us as they thought / knew we could get them a role with a silly pay rise. Now you have to do some work it’s our fault.
Conclusion (after reading more comments): they’re STILL estate agents in pointy shoes
Good recruiters give feedback. Crap ones don’t. Unfortunately, you may find you need to use the crap ones as well as the good ones!
Message to crap recruiters-I never use your companies when I need to hire
I completely agree with sjmjackson. I appreciate that, given the current economic climate, the job market is going mental, but when you apply for a position completely within the specification, I find it wholly unacceptable to receive no acknowledgment whatsoever.
What is most annoying when you chase a recruiter and they become actively hostile. A simple email asking how everything progressing is not a dig at their inability to discharge their duties, but a gentle reminder.
If the recruiter is incapable of coping with the demands of the position, then maybe they should look to find a new career. Manners are everything, and I have met some exceptional recruiters.
NB: By recruiters, I am actively referring to agencies, not recruiters within HR of the organisation to which one is applying.
thats just the problem with recruiters, if your CV doesn’t have a 2.1 and you are not a plain easy sell, then they don’t bother…the fact that you have a foreign degree, are professionally qualified and highly rated by your peers and employers counts for very little…its nothing more than a postal service where the right look of the envelope determines if it makes it through the door…
A wonderful piece of fantasy written by a recruitment agent.
On a few occasions I have been in the final two only to miss out. The recruitment agent has only told me after I chased them and then when I ask why and they tell me they’ll call me back but never do.
I can’t understand the attitude. I’m applying for senior positions that are responsible for hiring staff. They must realise that I will remember them and their arrogant lack of manners and never use their agency. Or are they that arrogant?
I’m not sure what the recruiters are saying here? The crux seems to be ‘the situation is bad so deal with it and stop bothering us’. When candidates are investing time, effort and money into applying for jobs I don’t see why is it unreasonable to expect some feedback if you have made it through to the ‘final’ interview and then not got the job.
I have experienced some appalling behaviour from recruiters that includes altering my CV sent to the employer and then altering the job spec sent to me, and then sending me into a pointless interview that was a waste of everyone’s time.
Recruiters contact me when they need candidates for a hard to fill position but then do not even answer my emails -let’s not even talk about picking up the phone- when I need a new job.
Over the years I am keeping a spreadsheet noting how responsive each headhunter is. I will never give a position or help again those who act like sharks.
I have nothing against the Anglo-Saxon hunters even if some one have needs to be awaked, the majority do their work correctly and gives some feed back. In the other hand, try the French head hunter sand you will be disgusted with all never.
6) They don’t really care
Imagine how much more time your recruiter would have to spend on speaking to clients and organising your interviews, and passing on feedback should they not be taking 100 calls daily from people who are demanding an answer as to why you cant help them or sorting through the never ending CV’s being sent in….
J – you are right. We offer a FREE service. You dont pay us a penny! The client does once we have found them the right candidate. We are not public servants and dont have to give our time to everyone.
I’m glad that i am not the only one to suffer from a lack of feedback from recruitment companies.
Although I am looking for a job at the moment I have managed teams of up to 158 employees.
Guess where I would not go when recruiting for my staff….correct the agencies that act unprofessionally!
Recruiter “J” has proven why recruiters are soooo disliked, “Recruiter offer a free service to candidates, I think people forget that sometimes” – so patronising it makes me ill…the agency theory would in fact dictate that whilst indeed you are paid by the employer, you are merely there to place an employee (that would be me) within a firm…in order to get paid, you have to place me…without me, you dont get paid…I think AGENTS forget sometimes that I offer them a free service…with all the time wasting you give me – I should start to charge you for every call/meeting/etc etc.
@Andrew – I may be a fantasist, but I am not a ‘recruitment agent.’
Most of the agencies are absolutely useless. After you alert them to the job on their website that you are perfect for and they should have already called you about seeing as you’re registered with them, they finally send your CV over and then don’t bother with any feedback from the client whatsoever and if you don’t get an interview you don’t get called back about it.
Presumably those that dislike recruiters will not go to them and those that do like them will. Just as there are professionally destitute bankers so are there recruiters. Candidates should do due diligence and decide accordingly.
Since when were recruiters courteous? Well courteous died along with this countries ecconomy.
these reasons are rubbish. The only reason recruiters dont give feedback is because they ALWAYS work for the client not the candidate. If a client gives feedback its up to the recruiter to decide if he will pass on the real feedback. Make no mistake recruiters DO get feedback from clients because clients want them to know how to get a better candidate next time.
Recruiter more often than not dont want to give you the real feedback because it only helps you and doesnt help them. Thye gotta take time giving you the feedback. And you might disagree or take it badly and they are only the messenger. Its not very professional but that happens
DOnt believe any of the rubbish reasons in this article. the main reason is Recruiters just dont care about giving feedback. Its not their main job
Tom, you clearly suck at whatever it is that you do. probably not much.
With the advent of Recruitment management systems it down right un-professional for a recruitment agent to say they don’t have the time to acknowledge and give feed back. It is evident that if an agency cannot keep track of CV’s (Acknowledge receipt, keep informed on a weekly basis, inform applicant that they are not suitable – thats an added value service for the end client, etc) and then how can they profess to be professional. Sorry they are in this busy to earn money and that is done by providing suitable candidates that stay in the organisation. End clients should expect recruiters to provide this type of service rather than providing a CV forwarding and filtering service they need to provide a applicant management process. When I use recruitment agencies I know which ones provide good candidates and its usually those that put effort into the process not the ones that expect the end client to filter out the bad CV’s.
doesntliketom, be nice! Tom is probably not the sharpest tool. But he definitely is a tool.
I, and the guys who work for me, always give candidates feedback. That is why one candidate who got terrible feedback used that information and the next interview we put him into he absolutely nailed it, and got the offer 2 stages later! Don’t tar all recruiters with the same brush!
Hi J. I disagree feedback is an implied condition. REC association implies that all candidates are given feedback. If your organisation can do this then I for one as an employer would not feel comfortable with your agency. You have automated systems for reply, and putting some effort into actual classification of feedback will help and work wonders in the long term. If you dont have time then get more people to your organisation and make time. Its people you are dealing with not machines.
Tom – Yes we do work for the clients. They are the ones who pay us. If they dont pay us then we dont have a job. The only pay to get paid is to do our job properly and well. Those recruiters who survived this recession are clearly doing something right.
And despite what you think, we dont get our kicks out of not passing on feedback. Some clients just dont pass it on. FACT.
The problem is there are no doubt good recruiters and bad recruiters, same as in any profession. But It is no good simply saying only use the good recruiters because if you see a job advertsied with a bad recruiter then you have bo choice but to use them
It is frustrating beyond belief to have your CV ignored by an aganecy. Its difficult enough finding a role thats suitable leave alone having to get past the frigging agencies as well its just an extra barrier that you really dont need. .
You all have so much time on your hands to post these vacuous comments, I would guess you are not very employable!
Let’s face it – most recruiters have NO experience of the jobs that they are looking to fill so can’t tell a good candidate from a bad one. This whole business has grown up because companies are too damned lazy to do the recruitment themselves so farm it out. They tell the recruiters ‘give me ten likely CVs’ and that’s what they get. If you’re not one of the ten, you’re screwed. Also I have had several where I replied only to be told ‘that’s already gone’ or the job mysteriously goes on ‘hold’. Either there is a vacancy or there isn’t – there is a project or there isn’t. Stop messing us around!
If the recruiter wants to put me forward for a job I can get 2/3 or even half a dozen calls when I am at work. The when the job goes bad the same recruiter will refuse to take my calls – come on I am a big boy and saying “Sorry you didn’t get the job!” is not going to kill me! What’s more I won’t even shout at you…
“recruiters”, “headhunters” always give me a good laugh. To end up in that field, one must REALLY have failed at everything before.
Aren’t recruitment agencies supposed to be monitored by some kind of regulatory body or organisation? To make things worse, they seems to be mushrooming; agencies with strange names popping up all over the place. How are we sure that these are not bogus and of a dubious nature. Who protects the candidates?
On the other hand, I agree that not all recruiters are inefficient, but the majority are. It might help if there was some means of reporting those that do not perform to the required standards; this way we’ll be able to dwindle the numbers down to the very best, thereby creating a more competitive environment and this should in turn push up the standard even higer (a kind of cleansing exercise).
Something has got to change!
I work as a consultant for one of the strongest consulting firm and am an recruiting case-interviewer as well. While it is a waste of time in the majority of the cases, we ALWAYS give detailed feedback because it helps to protect our reputation and, the candidate might speak better of us arounf him. I therefore don’t understant the majority of recruiters who do not give feedback if asked when this is there core business. It only shows the majority of thel are in a very low stage of excellence. Maybe that’s why they are there after all…
I’m fairly new to this job hunting malarky but I approach it in a systematic way. I have something to sell – my skills and experience; an agent has something to sell – an opportunity. It’s a transaction. At the end of it I review the process and score the agent, whether or not I get the job. Those that don’t perform get a low score and I tend to avoid them in the future – both as an employee and as an employer. After all, most jobs are advertised through more than one agent. I now have a short-list of agents I know personally and I’m getting placements. I’ve never been a temp before but am really enjoying the variety. Life’s fun – even in a recession. I’m old-fashioned, in my world there is always room for courtesy.
PS. It is a short short-list!
Clearly most of the comments written here are by people frustrated at not getting the job they applied for. Easiest person to blame is of course the recrutier.
If you see a job advertised that you truely believe you are a good fit for then why not call the recruiter. Personally speaking if I am not on the phone or in a meeting I will alsways pick up.
My name is on my adverts.
I will alsways let you know if I don’t think you are right.
Lots of people are not interested in my opinion because as I am a recruiter, to them I am some form of sub-human failure who has to resort to the lowest job on the street.
Personally I could not care less what these people think of me.
Recruiters seldom know anything about the job/sector (their idea of finding ‘the right candidate’ involves matching the key words from the job spec to those in a CV).
I agree with the other comments, you’re *very* lucky if you get any kind of reply from these guys.
Last point; companies need to think carefully about the agent/s they use, since these guys are effectively representing them.
Useless agent => useless company (and still having the cheek to only want the ‘best of the best’)
Recruiters are like mother-in-law – always create barriers between you and girfriend (my dream job)!
If you are good enough… trust me, we’ll call.
Nasty Agent 4 hours ago
Actually sorry no I don’t trust you to call at all ‘if I’m good enough’, because a lot of the time you don’t know. A common problem with recruiters is that they don’t really understand what the recruiter is looking for. This is not your fault – you can’t be expected to have direct prior experience in all the roles and thereby be able to read between the lines – but it is a fact.
I realise that sometimes recruiters are reluctant to give up detailed feedback – to me that just indicates that you probably don’t want to work for them anyway – every single time I’ve recruited I have ALWAYS given detailed feedback to the recruiters on the specific application and even subjects like how they could engineer their CV better. I behave how I would like to be treated. What is unacceptable is that a lot of agents don’t even make the effort. The ones that do make the effort and LISTEN get my future business.
BooHoo for you if you’re drowning in work. We all are. That’s no excuse.
Since when were recruiters courteous? Well courteous died along with this countries ecconomy.
stupid recruiters recruit stupid people who has made stupid financial crisis happen
headhunters on the whole are lazy
Typical comments from recruiters are weve had a 100 applicants for 1 vacancy. So what? If it was 10,000 applicants I could understand. But 1 vacancy at say 50k means what 10k commission, or 100 per applicant. Worth a phone call/ E-mail to them all I would say, especially if it means when things pick up you are still on good terms with the candidates.
The attitude ” I cant help you so I am throwing your application in the bin and dont exepct me to call you or even return calls is just not on whatever the market conditions.
The notion that recruiters offer a free service to candidates is pure fiction. The recruitment fee is a cost associated with employees and, thus, reduces the total compensation pool available for remuneration. At the end of the day, it’s always the successful candidate that pays.
Couple that with the reality that candidates are providing a free service to recruiters in the form of a saleable (or sometimes not) product and the “free service” defence appears even more mendacious.
I’ve lost count of the number of adverts I’ve encountered demanding attention to detail, strong communication and a small sprinkling of fairy dust, only to chafe with poor grammar, shoddy formatting and vague requirements. Perhaps if there wasn’t such hypocrisy from the very outset, candidates might spew forth a little less vitriol about the recruitment industry. Only as strong as your weakest link and all that…
RecruiterXXX, you are clearly not very employable yourself if you have the time to read 5 pages of “vacuous comments” posted. Or is this what you use your time for instead of doing your job properly?
You are fired, RecruiterXXX.
Don’t you just love recruiters who degrade your profession over the phone, when they can hardly barely spell or pronounce the skills required. Of the 50 or so different agencies I have applied for a job through, there was only one who met me in person before sending me off to their client. The rest are busy impersonalising the process and making a candidate feel very very sorry for oneself for having to deal with them. There should be regulatory body for these guys, an accreditation of some sort so that we get some quality in recruitment. Sigh.
Recruiters only sent at most 5-10 CVs per client. They should therefore have the courtesy to let the candidates know if they are either successful or unsuccessful. If the recruiters are sending more than 5-10 CVs per client, then they are then just paper pushers in the hope of getting the 20% – 30% commission. It is about time that the recruiters start working for their commission.
P/s. Not all recruiters are bad, I have experienced some good recruiters but they are far and rare.
Recruiters are just “traders” … whatever they can sell, they sell !!! The job seeker do all the work and recruiter will just sell them to the highest bidder !!!
Many recruites behave like messengers – passing the CVs without complete screening to the hiring managers and then doing what they are asked to do. The issue is when the market was booming, too may people came in this profession with the right skills and spoiled the name. I would certainly go back to a recruiter who gives me a frank “no” than some one who keep things hanging forever.
No surprises there! The recession is affecting the agencies as much as everyone else. Most likely they are also skimping on resources as well the professionals are elsewhere and lower paid green horns are holding fort. Yes, lets exercise sympathy
I deal with agencies when hiring staff and always give detailed feedback on candidates that I meet – positive an negative. I have on several occassions received calls from candidates that I have met asking for feedback as their recruiter has not bothered to call them since finding out that they were unsuccesful. Recruitment is “meant” to be a “professional” industry, however, in a low barrier to enter market you will always end up with “used car sales recruiters” who are only bothered about the commission they earn and not interested in their product.
For candidates:
Fact 1: 99.9% of agents are timewasters
Fact 2: SUMO is key to job hunting
Fact 3: Best policy is to approach employers direct. Employers prefer direct hires.
For employers:
Fact 1: 99.9% of agents are timewasters
Fact 2: Use your networks
Fact 3: An outsourced HR function is the solution for 95% of your staff, managers, directors and main board requirements. The other 5% you can do yourself with the FD and group legal counsel / COO if they are halfway competent.
so glad we have an article back on this site where everyone can get their whacking sticks out and give recruiters a good ol’ beating again.
has been far too long.
well done chaps, dont stop till you feel better about your lives.
Would you call working a 12 hour day regularly + weekends lazy?
I agree with disgruntled customers above. Nine out of ten times the recruiter does not have a
clue what it is the MD and the job seeker are looking for. Often they read some key words (e.g. C++,VC++, STL …etc) and then look for the number of years experience in those fields
(e.g. 5 years plus). If you have all the above but instead of 5 years+ you have 3 years+ then they exclude you. Some of them are so short minded ( I am sorry to say) that they do not understand the fact that you may have 5 years+ but within that 5 years you have not used much of the language in question whilst someone with 3 years+ might have cover more features of the computer language!
Furthermore, I agree with the comments made about MDs, I find majority of them of arrogant and un willing to rest the fact these people that bother to apply for their jobs are very good people.
Bad recruiters are those that think only short term, i.e., placing a candidate and making a quick commission without any thought for how that candidate will perform, OR how unsuccessful candidates might see them, considering that they could be their clients in the future.
Good recruiters think long term: they want to make sure both their clients AND their candidates keep coming back to them. They will give their candidates some useful feedback to help fix simple problems and make them successful, because NO candidate is perfect.
There is a big difference between those recruiters who try to snatch as much value as they can in the short term, and those who invest in developing long-term relationships, trust, and a brand that is really valued.
Posted by John?
“Recruiters don’t have to be courteous. Bankers of all people should understand this. They are targetted and paid on placements. If you are stupid (apply for jobs for which you are unqualified) or incompetent (fail the interview) then you, as a product, are back for refurbishment. Get over it and stop being so precious”
You bumptious little man. How dare you suggest that people are incompetent if they fail at interview to get the job. You clearly are the type of agent everyone here is against!
I second that
My experience of recruiters is that they are very similar to estate agent and used car dealers. There is an incredibly low barrier to enter this ‘profession’, and hence you are dealing with people that could only dream of landing any of the jobs they are recruiting for. I have come across only a handful that are in any way professional and bright (and hence seem to getting a lot of good mandates). The others I’ve come across are frankly shocking – stupidly arrogant and inept. I wonder why the companies entrust the screening of their future employees to these ‘middlemen’ who are just paper pushing and often just scanning CVs for key terms listed in the job description, without any real understanding of the role.
@Frank Sinatra. Agreed. There are certian prominent recruiters I would never hire based on the unprofessionalism I experienced years back when looking for a role. In fact, I do make it a point to tell industry colleagues not to work with them either. What goes around comes around….
Oh I wouldn’t react to what John said…he is obviously sitting there with no searches underway and shortly to be axed because of his poor performance. People who are successful don’t despise their ‘product’ or have a big chip on their shoulder like that. He clearly recognises that candidates are so much more smarter than him, that he can only resort to insults-;0)
Blimey! This seems to have touched a raw nerve or two. I had no idea this many people read eFC.
A lot of the comments from recruiters seem to be missing the point. We are all aware that, in the current environment, internet age, etc, pretty much any job ad will get an avalanche of applicants. I don’t think anybody seriously expects them all to be acknowledged. This is quite different from lack of feedback post-interview.
In many cases, candidates will have made several journeys into London, to meet first the recruiter and then the hiring company. Reading the comments from hiring managers, it seems first round interview feedback is often not passed on. Not passing on feedback after second round interviews is frankly not on. I can only think that the recruiters don’t want to let on to unsuccessful candidates, in case the hiring company has a rethink and decides it wants to see you again, after all. Personally, I think I’m grown up enough to be told I’m unsuccessful, then called back later if circumstances change.
The fact that the criticism of recruiters is coming from both candidates and hiring companies suggests it is not just a question of sour grapes.
Great sum up Egghead
I have never got a job through a recruitment agency, and have a job far better than anything they ever put me forward for or told me I could get. I got it through my own research and tenacity.
Conclusion: dont use recruitment consultants.
I won’t deal with Northerners. They are rude. They are a “No Brainer”.
I have never got a job through a recruitment consultant either. Previously I was headhunted or applied to the company directly, dealing with very professional HR people I must say. This is the first time I’ve had to deal with recruitment agents – and I’m appalled by the quality and standards of this ‘profession’.
There are good recruiters and bad recruiters, just as there are good and bad in every sector of the economy.
Why expend all that energy and be so negative when simply refusing to engage with these people as a candidate or a client will put them out of business.
This would leave more business for those of us who take a long term view and will be around in 20 years not for 20 minutes
Good work Sarah, Efinancial has been a bit quiet lately, post an article about recruiters and problem solved!!
Recruiters for the most part are the messenger from the client to the candidate – When the majority of the time after an interview there is no detailed feedback from clients it is very hard to provide feedback to our candidates – what shall we do – make it up?
It would make my job so much easier if I got any feedback, but this comes from about 1% of my clients.
It always makes me laugh that people are desperate for feedback when they are interviewing for a position, yet when these very people get into a position where they are hiring themselves – do they give feedback? Yer right
Yes, please put them out of business!! I’ve lost count of how many incompetent cowboys I’ve come across; I absolutely refuse to have any dealings with them…
What a bunch of self-righteous prats you are. Open your eyes. I am going to present you with a few facts:
1. We are a business, not a charity. We don’t have to call you, and we don’t have to put you forward for roles.
2. We work long hours. The lazy ones are you guys, who expect us to do everything for you.
3. If everyone hates recruiters so much, clients wouldn’t use us and we’d be out of a job. But we’re not, and we’re making money! Proof is in the pudding.
4. Clients don’t always give feedback. And sometimes they give us feedback that quite frankly we couldn’t repeat, because what they said about you was so rude.
5. If you are not already in a similar role to the one you are applying for, don’t expect me to discuss it with you. The client is not going to be interested in you. Their rules, not mine.
6. I, and most of my colleagues, am not a failure at everything else in life. I earned a lot of money last year even in a recession. I had a perfectly acceptable alternative career, but I chose the highest paid option instead because Labour left me crippled with debt at the age of 21.
7. Please be nice to me, and I’ll be nice to you. Can’t guarantee you a job though. Sorry!
I WILL AGREE WITH ALL THE ABOVE PEOPLE.IF I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE COMPANIES I WOULD DO IT!!.RECRUITERS ARE BIG LIARS AND RECENTLY I HAD AN EXAMPLE AS I HAD AN INTERVIEW FROM A VERY BIG FINANCIAL INSTITUTION AND THE RECRUITER NEXT DAY CALLED ME AND TOLD ME THAT I HAVENT BEEN SUCCESSFUL BECAUSE OF AN X REASON.
THE REASON WAS COMPLETELY A JOKE SO I DECIDED TO CALL THE HR.I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT HR GAVE ME A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT REASON WHICH WAS A FAIR ENOUGH REASON.
RECRUITERS NEVER FOLLOW UP,THEY SAY THAT THEY WILL FORWARD THE CV AND THEY NEVER DO!!!.
THEY ARE THE BIGGEST LIARS ON EARTH
Well I reckon all this just about sums up the very simple fact that the vast majority of recs are worse than useless. Depressingly those interested in moving onwards and upward – or just in to any job for that matter – have to wade through massive chunks of what is basically spam on jobsites, feeds, etc.
For candidates:
Tip 1: If you see a job from an agent – ignore it.
Tip 2: If you ignore Tip 1, never EVER go for an interview with the agent.
Tip 3: If you decide to ignore both of the above (I know there’s bound to be some out there who will), at least do yourself the favour of insisting on at least one or two successfully placed candidate references / testimonials, and do get some evidence of their long term commitment to candidates as well as clients. Don’t be put off by excuses, patter…
Tip 4: When interacting with anyone in a hiring capacity – agent, HR director manager, CEO, etc. use your instincts. If you feel they are not being straight, or if you read unprofessionalism, evasiveness, over controlling behaviours or feel things are too ‘their’ process driven – act with decision and expedition and avoid a load of hassle later.
Good luck!
Difficult to take these comments seriously – the people writing on here are clearly looking at E-Fin primarily to find jobs – and therefore are frustrated job seekers scouring the job boards for their next pay packet – therefore their fury at recruiters for not finding them their ideal job or returning their call every time is somewhat understandable .
The simple fact is that credible professionals have strong networks in their own market to find new jobs and maintain relationships with select recruiters they know and trust – admittedly , as in any industry , there are rubbish recruiters out there , – how you are treated will depend on how much research you do into the recruiters you use and the steps you put in place to develop that relationship . Some of the comments here ( ie ‘ not one of the 50 recruiters I sent my CV to got back to me’)
would seem to suggest not many people on this website really understand the recruitment process – which would go some way to explain why they are still doing the daily EFC job board trawl ….
My experiences mirror a lot of what is said. I too am annoyed that companies are not set up to electronically acknowledge your CV…but I suppose that’s life. Recently I contacted an agency as I saw position I was well suited for…turns out the guy who I thought was a”good guy” kept in touch with me etc etc has left BUT he had not completed the in-house database correctly so I was never flagged for this position…will anything happen, I don’t know.
But the bad experiences behind you and keep moving on, keep networking, something will break. Its important to recognise there is a person at the other end of the phone probably trying to do their best (in some case though not always up to your own standards which is a hard one to swallow)
Considering recruiters only have one raw material to work with – people – it is incredible that they do not even acknowledge a CV being sent to them. How long does it take to say “sorry they are only considering candidates with XYZ”. I also think that recruiters could do much more to benefit themselves and their candidates by campainging for companies to stop this stunted insistence on precise experience. Having worked in this industry to 25 years I believe it is a fact that at most levels most people can perform most roles, whether or not they have performed that specific role before. If you have the ability you can work with whatever amount of specific experience you have. I feel candidates get frustrated with agencies that will only pigoen hole them for a certain role.
Fred Badloss you misquoted me. I did not say ( ‘ not one of the 50 recruiters I sent my CV to got back to me’)… I said only one of them bothered to meet me in person and do some due diligence ie uni transcripts, references, discussion of career goals. Building a relationship is a 2 way street as you mentioned. The other recruiters just send my CV on after a 5 mins of conversation. Call me old fashion, but surely you need to meet someone at least once if the candidate is after all going to be representing your agency.
Lots and lots of people here obviously feeling very frustrated and upset by their ongoing unemployment. I actually feel sorry for you. If you want to hate me then thats your problem. Please, for your sake though, stop blaming recrutiment agencies. If they are no good then they will go bust. Very simple darwinian economic principles apply in my business.
Look – most of you don’t like being told by me that you are a “no”. Bottom line is if I think I can help you I will CALL you. If I sent an email back to all the people I can’t help then I would spend all day emailing people. if you’ve not heard from then you can alsways call me. It is possible that I may have not read your cv, though unlikely.
99.9% of recruiters will waste your time … what a ridiculous statement. If this were true then there would be no Efin careers and no recruiters. Something that the editorial team here would be wise to think about next time they are bored.
If you were unemployed today, why would you refuse to take a recruiters call?
@ A recruiter
Usually these sort of articles (ie ones to encourage recruiter bashing) are published when there hasn’t been much of a response to the other dross.
As it is mostly recruitment agencies keeping this site going by paying to advertise, maybe we could have a few articles that encourage recruiters to rant on about how most candidates are useless / always let you down / never call with feedback / have unrealistic expectations, etc
Case in point, I dealt with a recruiter today who was working on a job that had been placed with multiple agencies. They all left msgs via email or my mobile, but I reverted to the first one…he was uttlerly clueless on the requirements for the job, essentially looking for specific ‘search terms’ they had listed. And then he asked if the other recruiters were going to put my CV forward – so unsure that he needed to know that others considered me a good candidate. I assumed the others would be as bad, so allowed him to put forward
my CV as it was clear the investment bank is doing much of its screening itself. Another example, last week I got a call out of the blue a well-known city recruiter saying she had found the ‘perfect’ job for me (my CV was on their database), I had just the skills the hiring manager was looking for, and she would call him that afternoon to arrange an interview. I never heard from her again.
They say we are used to the good times, but I would counter that and say they have never been more than paper-pushers and now when it comes down to quality of service, it is really being highlighted how bad they are.
Al , again you miss the point . How can you have any meaningful interaction with recruiters if you send your CV to 50 recruitment companies !! What people need to understand is that being successful in finding a job is : a) understanding what you true value / skillset is and applying to jobs that are relevant b) working with a select number of recruiters ( ie 1 or 2 ) that specialise in your field and that you trust with your CV c) being able to sell yourself and your skillset to prospective employers .
All this recruitment consultant bashing is clearly from people like yourself who have no idea how to manage your job search – stop whinging , get real , focus on what your looking for and start making the relationship with your recruiter work for you – it’s a simple process that many people seem to struggle with .
Recruiters are there to help rather than to be a hindrance – if you mess up an interview or aren’t selected for a role then tough cookies – learn from it , improve and do better the next time
So – having been comprehensively unmasked here – what is your response?
1: Denial -> Rebuttal – > Attack
2:Justification
3: An attack on the eFC ed team. Not so much a case of shoot the messenger as snuff the source and edit the media.
Sound familiar? Dodgy Dossier for dessert anyone?
Perhaps not every criticism is true of every recruiter. But the responses here do not reflect well on the profession.
Also, no one here operates under the illusion that recruiters are charities. It is precisely because they are businesses that employers and candidates alike expect in turn a reasonable degree of professionalism and courtesy. Recruiters should aim to (a) provide a matching service and (b) add value. If they fail to do so they can hardly compain either employers or candidates wish to at the very least rgeister their displeasure. IF recruiters were, for example, dating agencies or estate agents or car insurance brokers (all analogous business models) AND they failed to satisfy one or other party, THEN the party concerned would feel entitled to register a complaint, seek a refund / fee reduction, complain to an ombusdsman, etc.
Probably a clear case for self-regulation, I
@: The Source – you are so poorly informed its
scary : http://www.rec.uk.com/home
@: Boredwiththisnow – if we had a thread dedicated to how utterly inept a significant proportion of the job hunting public were at handling the process in an appropriate way then we would be here all day!
I’m actually laughing out load after reading this thread as city candidates present such well-thought out points/examples to highlight the lack of quality of recruiters, while those in the recruitment professions lash out and attack. For example, the ‘recrutier’ above who justifies himself by saying a significant proportion of the job hunting public are inept! He is referring to people who land jobs that he/she could only dream of – reminds me of bouncers who take on inappropriate arrogance because they can provide or deny access, and in their ignorance start thinking they are better than the patrons of an establishment!! I can understand that HR doesn’t want to be inundated with applications and candidates ringing up for follow-up – let’s face it the only reason they use recruiters – but they should select the same handful of agencies that are any way professional, and drive the ‘pointy shoe’ brigade out of business. Also cut fees signifantly – even further – as all this ‘profession’ does is shift through paperwork for the search terms they are given, and actually fail to make the courtesy follow-up calls with feedback.
i was a banker with a bulge bracket us investment bank for over a decade before i set up my own search firm about ten years ago. when i was a banker and used recruitment firms there was only one headhunter who was professional from start to finish, and that is one of the reasons i am now a headhunter. lack of quality competition. remember that many headhunters have next to no product knowledge, and they are driven to show candidates by equally dim bosses. with regard to lack of feedback, candidates should realize that in many many cases the headhunter doesn’t get any feedback, so there is no info to relay back to the candidate. who’s fault is this? so be honest, when you are the person doing the hiring, do you take time to provide quality feedback for rejected candidates, or do you just move on to the next piece of meat that is placed in front of you? lots of recruiters are second rate, but lots of clients abuse the system by taking but not giving. hopefully each person reading this is different and will remember to be kind, courteous, and professional, and provide feedback to the headhunter next time the shoe is on the other foot.
Can everyone stop throwing their toys out of the pram…
Recruiters find jobs
Estate agents sell houses
etc etc
It is a fact of life people and will continue to be going forward – there are always going to be ‘brokers’ and there will be good services and bad services – it is up to you to choose the best.. same in all walks of life
Chin up guys…
To flip this over to the candidate side and keep the number of anti recruiters comments going, I propose the following discussion point:
“All unemployed candidates are morons who don’t deserve a job”
I thank you
To: StillBoredWithThis
For your knowledge, those people who are made redundant are not morons!
This only shows how much of a moron you are!
I think you fail to understand the basic fact of the money driven society and that is people are expendable!
Let’s hope that you will be part of this statistics (i.e. you will be made redundant soon)!
I rest my case!
Hope to see soon at Job Centre Plus!
Advice from a headhunter.
- We only deal with candidates currently in a job and/or who have excellent references.
- We will only place a candidate if they are in the top 5% of their peer group.
- We look for people who are specific to the requirements and ignore applicants who fall outside this remit.
- We do not work with people who apply to hundreds of job adverts.
(they are usually low quality canidates)
- We look for exclusivity and do not like to share our candidates with other agencies. hence the headhunting method rather than add response.
- We do provide feedback to candidates if they are good / placable otherwise we mess up that relationship. If they are bad in relation to the other candidates we know, or completly screw up the interview we will let them know but discontinue the relatioship and focus on the candidates that are most placable and who will make us money.
-We are a business not a charity.
- We keep in touch with good people even when they are not looking so when they do decide to move we have the relationship and can place them in their new role.
Hi there,
I am a graduate with fluent knowledge of three languages: Polish, English and Russian and basic knowledge of French. I am trying to get into banking in London. Do I have any chance to get a graduate position?