Recruiters are sometimes compared to real estate agents and used car salespeople! Why so? I think it is because recruiters are involved in one of life’s major decisions – as real estate agents and car salesmen are – your house, your car and your career. Life decisions are remembered and are important. So often these experiences are rushed or felt highly transactional & impersonal. Recruiters are often dealing daily hundreds of applicants for only one role and from a candidate perspective this can feel very transactional.
How do you find a talented recruiter that you can trust? Do you even bother?
In Australia there are no formal tertiary courses and no regulations. You do not even have to have a degree in Psychology or Human Resources to start up a recruitment company! Scary stuff!
In Australia we have seen many recruitment companies employ UK backpackers for short periods. They have enjoyed the perks and Government living away from home allowances (LAFA) and made some money, without regard for the long term impact of their hires. This has given many recruitment companies a bad name, with candidates and clients being dissatisfied with their services. The government has just dropped the LAFA and this may reduce the number of interim UK recruiters. UK recruiters train at University to become recruiters and this is why they are often selected to join Australian recruitment companies. In Australia there are no University courses purely for recruiters – a critical function in an organisation. It is often just a subject in an HR course.
The only way to measure a recruiter’s effectiveness is by retention and long term connection.
Many hires that fail do not fail for lack of ability. They fail because the new hire does not fit in as an individual. The candidate – so willing to begin with –discovers they are at odds with the values and vision of their new employer. The answer lies in being unafraid to probe and match the values held by the candidate and client organisation during the recruitment process.
An effective recruiter needs to invest time and curiosity in determining what these factors are. They need to know the successful benches in the organisations and have some grids/ templates of the successful performers to align the new talent to. They need to deeply understand your business and go beyond the interview process, as that is just the start. They need to get to know the candidate at a forensic level – know their childhood and family background, their aspirations, their wins and losses, their passions, their past careers and reference across all levels of peers, subordinates and colleagues. They need to observe the machinations of communication flow of email/ sms and phone calls and see how responsive and timely the candidate is throughout the recruitment process.
The interview is only the start, as the real skill is what follows in determining the cultural fit.
Good recruiters specialise in industries and disciplines and get to know industry talent and benchmarks for above grade industry talent. Good recruiters stay in touch with talent over the long term. They think long term and work with you in your your thinking of your entire career path.
A perfect fit leads to long term appointments and career engagements and this is how you will measure the effectiveness of a recruiter and whether you need them or not.
For more information contact Simone Allan, Director at Mondo Search on 1300 737 917 or email simone@mondosearch.com.au.
Copyright: The above is the intellectual property of Mondo Search Pty Ltd. None of the information provided may be copied or reproduced in part or in full without the prior written permission of a director of Mondo Search Pty Ltd.
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