Do we need Headhunters?
Headhunter's next appeal made me think about why staff search work is not always effective, and sometimes counterproductive for their clients.
Each of those working in the IT sphere with an enviable regularity receive requests from Headhunter-ditch. Someone completely ignores such requests, and someone continues to politely refuse bothersome bounty hunters.
In my opinion there are several reasons that significantly reduce the efficiency of recruiters.
Perhaps the main reason for the failures in the search for personnel is the complete lack of an individual approach to potential applicants.
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What is it expressed in? Let's look at a dummy example.
A few years ago, an employee of the Best Headhunters recruitment agency turned to Mr. Cloudman, a Cloud specialist, through the Xing platform (the most popular platform on the German-language Internet). Mr. Cloudman politely thanked for the offer, informing the recruiter that he was completely satisfied with his current employer. After some time, Mr. Cloudman again receives an offer from the same recruiting agency employee. Mr. Klaudman once again politely thanks for the offer, informing the recruiter that he is completely satisfied with his employer. But this time, already with his new employer, to whom Mr. Cloudman moved only a few months ago. At the same time, Mr. Klaudman, out of idle curiosity, wonders if the announcement is not about XYZ and what salary is being offered for this position? In his response, the employee confirms that it is a question of the XYZ company, but the answer to the question about salary remains open. The recruiter ends his letter with an absolutely formal and banal wish for the very best, and in the form that is usually used in refusal to the applicant.
So, what in my humble opinion was wrong:
The recruiter was not particularly interested in the information provided by Mr. Claudman in the profile. He was obliged to notice the change of workplace and respond to it. Why not ask the question of what caused this decision? It would be worth asking about the new employer, is he satisfied, how are the first weeks of work going? After all, not everyone who transfers to a new job, saves it. Ignore the question of salary, in our least unreasonable. In my opinion, the correct response would be a proposal to discuss this issue over the phone.
So, not being a person recruitment specialist, I will allow myself to give some recommendations both to recruitment agency employees and their customers.
Gentlemen recruiters, your customers expect the following qualities from applicants:
I believe that these requirements apply to you.
In my opinion, for a recruiting agency employee a potential candidate, this is just a number on the list. He does not see a man in him.
Dear recruiters, add in your letter at least some hint of individuality. Pay attention to the data specified in the user profile, use it. Let a potential candidate understand that you are referring to him, and not to a few hundred more with similar profiles.
Set yourself some kind of CRM-system, in order to somehow systematize the database of potential candidates and information about communication with them. It would be desirable to know exactly when was the last contact. If you have already decided to start communicating with you, then a return to you seems somewhat inappropriate.
Let's look at another fictitious story, now from the clients of recruitment agencies.
Suppose that a medium-sized System Integrator, located in a large city in the south of Germany, is looking for an employee for the position of „Senior (Company or ProductName: zB Citrix, WMware, Azure, Cloud) Consultant. The main clientele of this system integrator is located there. Thus, all employees return home after the workday’s end, and not to the hotel.
To search for a suitable candidate, the System Integrator turned to Headhunter. Mandatory client requirement, the candidate has two certificates, Professional and Expert (for example, VCAP and VCDX or CCP-V and CCE-V). Probably, first of all, Headhunter will turn to its own database, but without finding a suitable candidate, it is possible to do the following:
So, how many potential candidates are left ... There will be no more than 10, in total ... That is why many positions remain unoccupied for a long time.
Even if a miracle happens, and out of the remaining candidates there is someone who wants to change jobs, then the candidate must still like the customer to be invited to an interview. As a result, even a multi-stage interview is no guarantee that you have found the specialist you were looking for. As one colleague said, about another former colleague - “he is the best within 10 minutes.”
Are Headhunters indispensable in finding the right staff? What prevents an internal employee from performing the above actions? The internal employee has even a slight advantage over the recruiter. Namely, to see the chain of contacts between his company and the candidate interested in him. Thus, you can try to offer a job "directly" using a chain of contacts.
In my opinion, many employers underestimate internal recruiting. They are ready to pay tens of thousands to a recruiting agency that blindly searches for matches in profiles, without even realizing what is behind all the IT abbreviations. The internal employee, however, can not only assess knowledge and skills, but also understand how a potential candidate is really suitable for a particular project. He will not recommend anyone in whom he is not 100% sure. No one wants to disgrace in front of colleagues and superiors, or to recommend a transition to a company with which you yourself are not satisfied. In fact, an internal employee acts as a guarantor of the quality of the candidate and, in my opinion, deserves to receive more than 2000-3000 euros.
PS I hope I have not offended anyone with my article, since the approach to work at various recruitment agencies is significantly different from each other. Perhaps I have not come across real professionals.
Each of those working in the IT sphere with an enviable regularity receive requests from Headhunter-ditch. Someone completely ignores such requests, and someone continues to politely refuse bothersome bounty hunters.
In my opinion there are several reasons that significantly reduce the efficiency of recruiters.
Perhaps the main reason for the failures in the search for personnel is the complete lack of an individual approach to potential applicants.
')
What is it expressed in? Let's look at a dummy example.
A few years ago, an employee of the Best Headhunters recruitment agency turned to Mr. Cloudman, a Cloud specialist, through the Xing platform (the most popular platform on the German-language Internet). Mr. Cloudman politely thanked for the offer, informing the recruiter that he was completely satisfied with his current employer. After some time, Mr. Cloudman again receives an offer from the same recruiting agency employee. Mr. Klaudman once again politely thanks for the offer, informing the recruiter that he is completely satisfied with his employer. But this time, already with his new employer, to whom Mr. Cloudman moved only a few months ago. At the same time, Mr. Klaudman, out of idle curiosity, wonders if the announcement is not about XYZ and what salary is being offered for this position? In his response, the employee confirms that it is a question of the XYZ company, but the answer to the question about salary remains open. The recruiter ends his letter with an absolutely formal and banal wish for the very best, and in the form that is usually used in refusal to the applicant.
So, what in my humble opinion was wrong:
The recruiter was not particularly interested in the information provided by Mr. Claudman in the profile. He was obliged to notice the change of workplace and respond to it. Why not ask the question of what caused this decision? It would be worth asking about the new employer, is he satisfied, how are the first weeks of work going? After all, not everyone who transfers to a new job, saves it. Ignore the question of salary, in our least unreasonable. In my opinion, the correct response would be a proposal to discuss this issue over the phone.
Instead of conclusion
So, not being a person recruitment specialist, I will allow myself to give some recommendations both to recruitment agency employees and their customers.
Gentlemen recruiters, your customers expect the following qualities from applicants:
- analytical, systematic, structured and independent way of working
- initiative and creative approach to solving problems.
I believe that these requirements apply to you.
In my opinion, for a recruiting agency employee a potential candidate, this is just a number on the list. He does not see a man in him.
Dear recruiters, add in your letter at least some hint of individuality. Pay attention to the data specified in the user profile, use it. Let a potential candidate understand that you are referring to him, and not to a few hundred more with similar profiles.
Set yourself some kind of CRM-system, in order to somehow systematize the database of potential candidates and information about communication with them. It would be desirable to know exactly when was the last contact. If you have already decided to start communicating with you, then a return to you seems somewhat inappropriate.
Let's look at another fictitious story, now from the clients of recruitment agencies.
Suppose that a medium-sized System Integrator, located in a large city in the south of Germany, is looking for an employee for the position of „Senior (Company or ProductName: zB Citrix, WMware, Azure, Cloud) Consultant. The main clientele of this system integrator is located there. Thus, all employees return home after the workday’s end, and not to the hotel.
To search for a suitable candidate, the System Integrator turned to Headhunter. Mandatory client requirement, the candidate has two certificates, Professional and Expert (for example, VCAP and VCDX or CCP-V and CCE-V). Probably, first of all, Headhunter will turn to its own database, but without finding a suitable candidate, it is possible to do the following:
- Opens Xing (possibly LinkedIn) and enters the above certificates in the search box.
- So before him is a list of several hundred names:
- let's try to remove those who live far enough from the specified place of work. Not everyone is ready to move, especially in a region with very expensive real estate.
- then it is necessary to exclude those who, for example, already occupy a higher position (Head of ..., Lead ...), work for a more well-known, prestigious employer, for the manufacturer itself or Freelancer.
So, how many potential candidates are left ... There will be no more than 10, in total ... That is why many positions remain unoccupied for a long time.
Even if a miracle happens, and out of the remaining candidates there is someone who wants to change jobs, then the candidate must still like the customer to be invited to an interview. As a result, even a multi-stage interview is no guarantee that you have found the specialist you were looking for. As one colleague said, about another former colleague - “he is the best within 10 minutes.”
Are Headhunters indispensable in finding the right staff? What prevents an internal employee from performing the above actions? The internal employee has even a slight advantage over the recruiter. Namely, to see the chain of contacts between his company and the candidate interested in him. Thus, you can try to offer a job "directly" using a chain of contacts.
In my opinion, many employers underestimate internal recruiting. They are ready to pay tens of thousands to a recruiting agency that blindly searches for matches in profiles, without even realizing what is behind all the IT abbreviations. The internal employee, however, can not only assess knowledge and skills, but also understand how a potential candidate is really suitable for a particular project. He will not recommend anyone in whom he is not 100% sure. No one wants to disgrace in front of colleagues and superiors, or to recommend a transition to a company with which you yourself are not satisfied. In fact, an internal employee acts as a guarantor of the quality of the candidate and, in my opinion, deserves to receive more than 2000-3000 euros.
PS I hope I have not offended anyone with my article, since the approach to work at various recruitment agencies is significantly different from each other. Perhaps I have not come across real professionals.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/442598/
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