RANT! Cowboy recruiters beware!!

Today I met with an exceptional IT professional, a candidate who has extensive experience in healthcare infrastructure (a rare skillset in Canada) who is in between contracts. It was a great conversation, and after a good 90 minutes, I came out of the meeting with my head spinning.

You see, this candidate has had a terrible experience with recruitment agencies in Canada. And for the first half of our interview he was putting me in the same cesspool as the other 'recruiters' he's dealt with.

What he described of his experience with recruiters in Canada really p*ssed me off.

The past few recruiters he has dealt with have not even bothered to bring him in for a face to face meeting. One recruiter even had the nerve to send a resume he found on a job board to their client without even calling the candidate! Once an interview was secured then the recruiter called the candidate. Not for a face to face meeting, but to send directly to the client for an interview.

It's no surprise that this candidate is so jaded about the people in our profession who are using him to make a half arsed buck, who can blame him for lumping me (and all the other decent recruiters) with the rest of them?

My candidate said that recruiters are more than just human traffickers, they need to be advisors, relationship builders, and mentors of the recruitment process. Not just resume slappers with no regard to the person behind the resume. And I agree with him, 100%.

I get so mad at the 'cowboy recruiters' out there who don't do their due dilligence, who hide behind their computer screen; make no effort to build any kind of relationship with the people who are making them money, and consequently award those of us who are passionate about our jobs with a sour reputation in the eyes of job seekers. It is an insult to those of us who actually care about what we do, and a slap in the face of our industry.

My message to you cowboy recruiters out there is this: You have the ability to change people's lives. It is such a great responsiblity, too much to take lightly. You're not selling toilet seats, or amway products. You're forging wonderful careers of people who need your help. Be honoured by this, and take it seriously!

Or... find a new job.

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Comment by Hassan Rizwan on September 4, 2009 at 8:02am: So True. Such lame practices damage the candidate's trust in recruiters. I would suggest that forwarding resumes directly to the clients without informing is definitely not correct. What can be done best is that the recruiters should give a chance for the candidate to take an online assessment test for the job. This would make even the candidate realize whether he or she was suitable for it or not. It's the latest technology that saves the recruiters from being blamed as the candidate himself can understand where he stands and what are the requirement for a particular job. Accordingly the profile gets forwarded to the employer only when it meets the criterion set.

Comment by Steve Sill on September 4, 2009 at 12:10pm: I am sure there was more going on, besides the fact that he was not invited to come into the office for a face to face meeting. Probably more likely a lack of follow-up by the other recruiters, which is a serious issue. I would not suggest an online assessment, because they are so impersonal, and many times don't recognize that there is more than one way to solve a problem (Current MS Office Test are proof of that). It's follow-up, follow-up, follow-up and treating the person with respect even when they are not a good fit for whatever position you are talking to them about.

Comment by Gerry Crispin on September 4, 2009 at 12:12pm: I doubt any Cowboy recruiters will be reading your blog...or my response.

Nice rant though.

At the end I was surprised by the sentence "You're not selling toilet seats..." I'm sure you weren't meaning to disparage sales people or put them down as less honorable than a...recruiter!

Have you considered the possibility that the greater majority of TPRs are Cowboys and Cowgirls and that the crowd you run with - passionate about doing right by all the stakeholders- especially candidates, is a very small minority? If that were true, and who knows what is true since there isn't a survey of "Cowboys", then should TPRs/recruiters be judged by their actions or the aspirations of a minority?

Yes, you are painted by the same brush.

Just as world class HR professionals are hog tied with those who call themselves HR but whose penchant for transactional satisfaction leads them to be less likely to partner up with great TPRs.

Just as world class sales professionals are saddled with the notion that the "deal" is to put one over on the sucker.

Just as "Cowboys", who associate themselves with living independently but honorably are so often confused with outlaws whose word is not their bond.

Just as Engineers are thought to be boring and unsocialized...oh wait! We are!

Anyway, your comments suggest that a there exists a [written] industry set of standards about how prospective candidates ought to be treated (if only so we don't have to rely on all those different versions "common sense").

I would love to see such a list if you can find it. It would make for an interesting discussion at Recruitfest (and with your permission I'll use a couple of your paragraphs here for that discussion)

Thanks again

Comment by Walt Youngblood on September 4, 2009 at 3:21pm: Two things I know for sure...you can't make a woman feel something she don't and a Recruiter can't build a house with no doors.

Comment by David Pritchard on September 8, 2009 at 6:12am: YES...That is what TPR's become sometimes. There are exceptions of course. I had a conversation with Mike Veronesi about this area and others concerning trends today, who wrote about the subject in What happened and What is Next. Mike Veronesi, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, has a VMS company called. TALENThire.com

Gerry Crispin, Kevin Wheeler, Don Ramer and Shally Steckerl are all big proponents of what Mike and I discussed, and I am forever hopeful that the the cowboys and girls become professional ladies and gentleman, SOON or they will be riding off into the sunset. To all those TPR's reading this put a little love in your heart, if you care. If you do not, get a new job in another arena.
PRITCH