With a challenging, but recovering economic climate, 2011 saw many of our existing (and new) clients needing to recruit to cope with incoming work and increasing budgets. But employing anyone is a big decision and finding the right recruitment partner can be a full time job in itself.
We've put together a quick guide to what you should expect – from understanding your business, to avoiding inappropriate candidates and recruitment dirty tricks:
Understanding your business – When searching for talent, a recruiter is acting as an extension to your business and in order to represent you in the best possible way, they must first get under the skin of your brand, team culture and ethos. At Pitch we make a point of meeting each and every client to make sure we know everything we need to in order to do your company justice.
Avoiding a deluge of CVs – Let’s face it a recruitment fee is considerable sum of money and it is only fair that you see a return for this. If a recruiter is throwing dozens of CVs your way then you’re left trying to pick a shortlist from people you don’t know, or, even worse, giving up your time to meet candidates who are simply not suitable. We take time to get to know you and so we’re confident enough to reject most candidates, leaving you with a succinct shortlist of relevant candidates who have been handpicked by your consultant.
Time wasted meeting badly briefed candidates – Have you ever walked into an interview only to find within the first five minutes that the candidate is completely wrong for the job, often lacking a key criteria which should have been picked up by the recruiter? Wrong salary expectations, skill set, attitude...the list goes on. We ensure every candidate is screened in detail against each job we put in front of them. We discuss the required skills, attitude, career expectations, salary, commute and much more.
Radio silence – if you’re taking the time out to meet us and brief us, you need to feel confident that while you’re getting on with your job, we’re getting on with ours. That’s why we’ll keep you posted on exactly what’s happening. We’ll tell you what we’re doing to find them, any feedback we’re getting from candidates, if candidates have other interviews, or even if it’s just to tell you we haven’t identified the right person yet. We’d much prefer to not send anyone than send someone for the sake of it.
Dirty tricks – Our industry sometimes gets a rather, let’s say, colourful reputation. One of the main principles Pitch was founded on was honesty & transparency; we’re strong believers in karma. Of course we want to maximise our income, but never to the detriment of any client or candidate. People like working with us because we offer a genuinely friendly and honest service. If a client is over paying for a role we’ll tell them. Equally we’ll advise a candidate if they are over or under selling themselves. If for any reason a candidate becomes unsuitable for the role or gives us cause for concern, we’ll flag it with the client immediately. To us this is basic stuff.
Headhunting - Recruiters are often called headhunters. In actual fact, headhunting is a specific discipline within a recruiter’s armoury. It’s often called ‘search’ to make it sound softer and we’ve even heard it referred to as ‘clearing car parks’ (less subtle). Quite simply, headhunting is making direct approaches to staff at competitor businesses and convincing them to consider a move. This is one of the many services which we offer clients. When done intelligently and in conjunction with the recruiting company, it can add value to the process. However we want to make it absolutely clear that we don’t headhunt from our clients. We believe it’s simple professional courtesy.
Added value – a good recruiter should be able to offer you more than a shortlist of candidates. As a specialist, we have an incredible insight into the industry job market, its trends and opportunities. While client information we’re privy to will always remain confidential, we can provide you with interesting market stats, salary guidance and skills availability, all the way through to business opportunities. We’re pleased to say that we’ve introduced many agencies to clients and clients to agencies – all at no cost.
Our service is also tailored to suit your business. Whether you choose to work on exclusive, non-exclusive, retained or even want one of senior consultants on-site with you to take part in the interview process, we’ll be happy to talk through the options and help you decide which one is right for you, not for us.
