Saturday, July 26, 2008

Why do Recruitment Consultants lack a professional approach?

This could be a purely Indian phenomenon OR perhaps a very universal one. It is for you to dip back into your experience with this crucial career link and decide. But, based on my experience, here are the Ten Commandments that I feel consultants should adhere to. Of course, as is the case with everything, this is not true of all but perhaps most.
Hence, before any salvos are sent in my direction I apologize to the ones who do and urge the others who don't.
1. We will provide feedback to the candidate even if he or she is not short-listed.
2. We will engage in a healthy discussion regarding the reasons for the candidate to be not short-listed, as it will help us and the candidate in understanding the business requirement.
3. We will adhere to a sense of decorum or maintain a business protocol while communicating with a candidate.
4. We will not jump to first names without having built a relationship or having sought permission from the candidate. This is particularly sore when a fresh consultant starts addressing a senior candidate by the first name.
5. We will not interject our conversation with such inane words as "huhn," "Ya" and the like and continue adhering to the business lingo.
6. We will not force the candidate to meet the company till we are sure of the assignment. Many a times a candidate is sent to the company only to be told that he or she would not fit the role.
7. We will communicate the brief from the company very very clearly to the candidate and avoid any confusion.
8. If two or three people from our company call the same candidate then the brief conveyed to the candidate will be the same and devoid of any dichotomies.
9. We will also understand the need of the candidate, as for us he or she is the other important business link out of the two pertinent in our line of business.
10. We will take all the above suggestions in the right spirit and make the recruiting business a highly professional, healthy, and happy one.

No comments: