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Candidates abusing recruiters
8 May 2008COMMENTS
It actually saddens me when I see such negativity about the recruitment industry (especially in finance). I would never let anyone who works for my firm do anything listed above and they would certainly be in line for dismissal should they do this and hide it from me. Read all comments »With jobs harder to come by, bankers are behaving badly towards recruiters and headhunters, who are suddenly unable to slot them into comfortable new positions.
“We’re starting to get a lot of angry emails,” says one structured credit headhunter. “Bankers are approaching us and questioning why we can’t place them in hedge funds or commodities businesses. They’re venting their spleens, but there just aren’t the jobs.”
“Candidates are more rude and obnoxious,” confirms the head of a derivatives recruitment firm. “We get a lot of emails saying ‘You guys are no good at what you do’.”
“Candidates have become used to getting what they wanted over the past few years,” agrees Adam Buck at recruiters Selby Jennings. “They were able to say, ‘I want to work in a macro hedge fund with £x million under management,’ and we were able to deliver for them. That’s no longer always possible and people need to understand that the market has changed.”
Frustration might also have something to do with the fact that recruiters are no longer doing their best to accommodate everyone.
Zaheer Ibrahim at search firm Kennedy Associates says it just isn’t viable to spend time on borderline candidates any more: “The CVs we see are walking money. We’ll go for the triple and double As, but we can’t waste our time with people who won’t generate money for us in this kind of market.”
COMMENTS
Zack - Banking MO Recruiter, Thu 08 May 08
Guys, I wish I could disagree with what you are saying, but I cannot. There are far too many 'used car salesmen' out there just looking to make a buck that won't give you an honest answer and put a spin on everything. These types of firms give all of us a bad name and I cringe when I read comments like yours. However, if done correctly, recruitment is a very honorable profession when it is built on trust, integrity and relationship-building. All I ask is not to use a wide-brush approach to all recruiters and firms. Find the one that works for you and stick with him/her. The market is tight, and your search may take a little longer, but you still can get results when you work with the right contact.
Add your comment »Anon, HR & Recruitment, Thu 08 May 08
There are good and bad headhunters/consultants out there, just as there are good and bad candidates.
For every bad recruiter out there, there is a candidate who overstates their experience or has unrealistic expectations of what can be achieved for them in the current market.
For both candidates and recruiters alike, it is a case of picking out the best to work with.
Craig, HR & Recruitment, Thu 08 May 08
If recruiters and headhunters are so useless guys, have fun finding your own jobs in the current market. We dont always get job specs (the top tier IB's are often the worst at this). I would suggest the comments posted on here are by candidates who are struggling to find jobs given the competition for roles in the current market. From a recruiters perspective if I have a role and you are a strong candidate we will place you and place you quickly, however if you are a lower tier candidate with an over inflated opinion of yourself, best of luck and jog on!
Add your comment »Anon, City, Capital Markets, Thu 08 May 08
As a financial services recruiter, I wanted to make the point that not all recruitment companies are unscrupulous and unprofessional. Unfortunately the bad agencies get talked about, whereas there are in fact thousands of reputable agencies with great access to top tier banks and FS organisations, placing candidates in top jobs every day. I have great relationships with hiring managers in a number of sought-after investment banks and therefore get exclusive access to the best jobs well before the jobs are advertised. I can then pick and choose which candidates I feel are culturally and profesisonally right for each organisation. Companies trust me and my judgement, as do the numerous candidates that I have placed time and time again. So please don't tar us all with the same brush!
Add your comment »Hugh Jenjine, Capital Markets, Thu 08 May 08
Recruiters (not HH's) routinely behave inapropriately towards their corporate clients (sending undercooked duffers to interview etc). It's with some amusement that I read that they are complaining.
Add your comment »M, HR & Recruitment, Thu 08 May 08
As a recruiter/HH/and ex banker myself I have to agree with all the "bad press" here. Too many recruiters have operated poorly for too long, however candidates and the banks themselves let them get away with it. As a candidate the bottom line is remember the recruiter is working for you. If they sound unprofessional or unknowledgeable in any way simply bin them and make sure they are named and shamed amongst your colleagues. I suggest candidates "test" a recruiter, ask them a few simple question about your work for 2 mins. Ultimately its your career, and its imperative you make sure the person representing you is doing a decent job.
Add your comment »a respectable recruiter, HR & Recruitment, Thu 08 May 08
Donald Duck, Yes recruiters are money motivated, but so are our some of our clients.
Before all recruiters get slated (albeit a lot of them should) for being short sighted seeing money over good practice, does sub prime ring a bell? And most front are hardly are the most ethical moralistic entities that I’ve heard of.
Some of you are correct. A full search mandate does create better ethical practice, but most companies do not do this except for extremely senior roles. Is this the recruiters fault? Unfortunately a badly incentivised and structured HR process in large organisations and a bad qualification of agency selection encourages rogue behaviour.
Anon, HR & Recruitment, Thu 08 May 08
As a recruiter with 7 years experience in recruitment, and before that 7 years experience working in various banks, it does frustrate me that our industry has such a bad rep.
However, at the same time I dont think many of the larger agencies do any good for the industry and the reputation of recruitment consultants as a whole.
Many agencies are short sighted enough to care more about call targets and how many CV's are sent out to really care about delivering an empathic and useful service to clients and candidates alike.
The desperation that many of these recruiters are acting with in this more 'challenging' market place will hopefully see many fail....and see the more experienced and see the agencies that offer a quality service (like me !!) thrive.
Likewise, quite naturally in tougher markets the strongest candidates will survive. Hopefully I wont have to sit in front of a graduate with a 2.2 in Pottery and 6 months reconciliations experience telling me they will only move for a derivatives trading role for a while !!
Dan (MD of a financial markets recruitment firm), HR & Recruitment, Thu 08 May 08
I'm really disappointed by the negative feedback from so many candidates above and never usually feel the need to comment after articles.
I've worked in the contingency / search markets for many years now and know many people who work in recruitment who are outstanding professionals. It actually saddens me when I see such negativity about the recruitment industry (especially in finance). I would never let anyone who works for my firm do anything listed above and they would certainly be in line for dismissal should they do this and hide it from me.
Please don’t tar us all with the same brush as it simply isn’t true.
TJ, HR & Recruitment, Thu 08 May 08
I’m a recruiter. You have to understand that in 90% of cases we don’t get any job description, just a vague job title or similar, so we have to guess what the client wants and keep on sending CVs until they pick one they like. Therefore, if you want to get a job you just have to send your CV absolutely everywhere. There is a better approach of course; choose 2 smaller (niche) agencies with good reputation which are likely to have good connections in your market and get to know their people personally – be nice and friendly and they’ll definitely take care of you. Otherwise, use your connections to find out who is the person responsible for hiring in the company you want to work for and make a call. Don’t blame the recruiters for not being able to find you a job – that’s their business, and if they can’t sell you at the moment it means there is no demand for your skills.
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