And now, a rant from Recruiter X
Every now and again I get emails from my peers who would like to publicly vent their frustrations about their employer, but decline the opportunity (at least until they secure a new gig). So for now, let’s enjoy the rants of someone I will refer to in cyberspace as “Recruiter X.”
Enjoy…
Give me a resume. I would like to clear up a misconception of what a researcher does to all you recruiters out there. This does not just apply to the brand-newest recruiter either; this will also apply to the gristled old veteran recruiter. My job, as a researcher, is to provide my recruiters with names and contact information. Your job, as a recruiter, is to qualify them. Why is this such a difficult concept to grasp? Here are my thoughts on it:
1. There are some people out there who call themselves “researchers” but do little more than harvest resumes from pay-for job boards.
2. Recruiters are used to working with these types of “researchers”.
3. New recruiters are told that all they have to do is call a candidate whose resume they have in hand, ask them a list of questions they’ve probably been given also, and they will make a placement if they do that enough times; that’s what recruiting is all about, after all.
4. Recruiters don’t know what to do with the names on the list that’s been given to them (um, how about call them?)
Since when did recruiters get scared of picking up the phone and talking to a lead? My goodness. If you are working with a true researcher, they’re not always going to be able to provide you with a gob of resumes. ESPECIALLY if they do not use pay-for job boards such as Monster, Hot Jobs, Dice, CareerBuilder, etc.
Hey, if all you want is resumes, then I suggest that you purchase a user license to one or more of the aforementioned job boards and set up an administrative person to start harvesting. I’m certainly not knocking them because there are millions of resumes from active candidates available at the drop of a hat. Just remember that you and 20 other recruiters are going to be scrapping over an active candidate who more than likely is unemployed or just looking to use your opportunity as leverage for a promotion or a better salary with another opportunity.
If you’re interested in gainfully employed, successful individuals, then you’re going to have to pick up the phone and call companies, because that’s typically where you’ll find that type of person – at work. They probably haven’t spammed their resume out to hundred of recruiters so you might actually have to talk to them and ask them for one. As far as what I’ve learned, this type of activity is what is known as recruiting. That is what your clients are paying you for. At least, that’s what I’ve been told.
As a new recruiter, you need to learn this skill! Handing a recruiter a stack of resumes and telling them ‘go get ‘em, tiger!’ is going to handicap them – SEVERELY. If you want to help a new recruiter out (and find out if they’re going to cut it to begin with), hand them an excel spreadsheet with a list of companies and tell them to find the sales manager at each company. Maybe be kind enough to include a name or two on the list. The ones who can’t hack it will probably leave your office at the end of the day and never return. There – you just learned what you needed to know! The ones who WILL make it and become outstanding recruiters will be able to do what you ask. The worst thing in the world you can do to a recruiter – and your own office for that matter – is to bottle-feed them resumes. Make them work for it; make them learn what pure recruiting is all about.
In a Book I read, it says ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; Teach a man to fish and you feed him for life.’ Translated into recruiting terms; give a recruiter a resume and they might make their call quota for the day; teach a recruiter how to really recruit and you’ll have a thriving desk in no time (and that recruiter will be able to feed their family, too).
As for giving you a resume? Hey, no problem. I’ll be happy to do that. But I hope you’ll also be willing to share your placement fee with me if you want me to do your job in addition to mine!ÂÂ
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[...] Jim Stroud: And now, a rant from Recruiter X “I would like to clear up a misconception of what a researcher does to all you recruiters out there. This does not just apply to the brand-newest recruiter either; this will also apply to the gristled old veteran recruiter. My job, as a researcher, is to provide my recruiters with names and contact information. Your job, as a recruiter, is to qualify them. Why is this such a difficult concept to grasp?� [...]