Having worked in recruitment for over twelve years, I have seen a huge amount of change in the industry. Although the majority of this change has been positive, one thing that is really noticeable and concerning is that the relationship between candidate and recruiter seems to have really deteriorated. Whether you're an in-house or agency recruiter, the willingness to engage and the level of respect towards you from candidates has never been so low... But why is this?
- Candidate driven climate – for the last few years we've been hearing about the 'war for talent' and whilst this may sound overly dramatic, the essence of 'battle' is true. There are a huge number of recruiters fighting over the best candidates – both active and passive. This has led to a changing tide, where candidates are no longer delighted to get a call from a recruiter about an opportunity, but they're actually expecting multiple calls from multiple recruiters and will then be highly selective on what roles and companies they choose to engage with.
- Years of poor recruiter engagement – candidates will always argue that recruiters are only interested in engaging with them when they have a price tag on their head; and as soon as they lose that price tag, the calls and emails from the recruiter suddenly stop. Well, it now seems that candidates have had enough and now they're doing the same back to recruiters.
- Lack of time – these days, people aren't interested in spending any of their valuable time on what they would class as zero-value activities, such as calling or emailing a recruiter to say they're not interested in an opportunity you have approached them about, or to advise that they have found another job, etc. They would rather focus their time and effort on what they feel are value add activities like updating their Facebook page or sending a tweet.
It goes without saying that everyone - myself included - has had good and bad experiences of both recruiters and candidates. The real challenge is for recruiters to prove to candidates that they're not just sales people looking to make a quick buck, but that they do the job because they like helping people better themselves. In 2016 we need to work together to change the perception of the recruitment industry, working towards the same goal – enhancing careers and achieving success. Hopefully it's not too late for the tides to change again!
I hope you find the above useful. If you have any questions about the blog or would like to arrange a chat, please contact us at [email protected]
