Tag Archives: Agency

Less Haste- More Speed

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Are you what they want?

Are you what they want?

Less haste-more speed as the saying goes. I recently received over a dozen CV’s from candidates applying for jobs that they were quiet obviously not qualified to do, both in terms of experience and qualifications. After the tenth CV I became slightly paranoid and read my job descriptions again and realised they were correct and more than that were very specific in what I required from applicants.

For example, I was in one instance looking for a Degree Qualified  Production Manager or Manufacturing Engineer with experience of Injection Moulded Medical Devices. What I received was a Production Manager with none of the other attributes, no degree, no medical device experience and no moulding experience?

Obviously the candidate was not suitable and was informed of this fact. That didnt help me as both his and my time was wasted.

This made me realise that the candidates were not or could not have been reading the job specification properly or fully before application or they would have realised this and not wasted their time.

Granted these are difficult times and people are frantically trying to find new jobs because of urgent financial commitments and they are in difficult situations, However that also means their time is even more valuable and probably better spent researching where suitable jobs are or by presenting their skills correctly and sending their CV’s to employers or Agencies that have positions that match their skills and experience

Consider this; if a candidate replies to a live requirement immediately that they are suitable for, if they are the first applicant they stand psychologically 1st in line for the job with the employer as that employer may require that person immediately and lean strongly towards the first suitably qualified candidate.

At the very least a requirement may be closing out and the applicant may have missed out on a closing application date whilst wasting time applying to an unsuitable  post.

Applying to a requirement you dont suit means you are looking in the wrong direction at the wrong time and you may miss out to someone else who has taken their time selecting a suitable job and as a result won out ahead of you simply because they took the time to read the Job specification.

What motivates a Company to choose a Recruitment Agency?

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An imperative to work together can be a decider of sucess

An imperative to work together can be a decider of sucess

What motivates a company to choose a Recruitment Agency?

Some might consider cost should be the single prime decider. However, this is a questionable basis for making an important decision; ask yourself, how safe would you feel if you chose cheap tyres for your family car!

Therefore client companies tend to consider more than the simple cost of provision of recruitment services. Again it may be alright as long as everything works out- but when rathet than if it doesnt work out; using the wrong provider can be a very costly lesson to learn and to correct.

Once queried on his professional service costs by a client, Red Adair, the famous Oilwell Firefighter simply replied;

 ”If you think its expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur ”

So what do client companies want from recruitment agencies?

  • Client Companies want  Recruitment Agencies that can show they understand their business and are committed to them.
  • They want an alternative opinion to their own, a business partner who works with them and not ambivalence when there is the possibility of another independent perspective being offered which may help and improve the overall recruitment process.
  • They want to see delivery on promises made and not just empty promises.
  • They want to hear sorry when a mistake is made and not blame shifting which is both unconstructive and shows an inability to learn from mistakes.
  • They want a Recruitment firm that involves themselves with the candidates, by taking an interest in the candidates motives and reason for coming on board with their client.
  • They want to see Recruitment firms that can demonstrate a long term rather than short term view of the client business relationship.

Hitting all of the above heavily influences the decision of a company to use a Recruitment Agency and is obviously a key decider of  the long term business future of a Recruitment Agency and can be the difference between a Recruitment Agency surviving or going under in a recession.

Therefore real commitment to the above factors for sucess are also an imperative for both quality and survival.