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Should You Meet Your Recruiter?

By Emma Tee on

I was lucky enough to meet Paul Jacobs of Loveworklife at the Recruitment Expo 2016 a few days ago. I attended a seminar where he talked about recruiters engaging our 5 senses and how technology is, in a nutshell, turning us into robots.

He has a very valid point. I’m going to make an admission now, so please don’t judge. I’ve worked in recruitment for almost twenty years. In that time, I have placed a candidate who I’ve never ‘spoken’ to, but have communicated with by text or email, and I’ve filled a role from an emailed job spec, never having had a verbal conversation with the client. Thankfully, these are in the minority, as otherwise I think I would be very much the robot that Paul describes. Which would validate the myth perpetuated by many that recruiters don’t do enough to warrant their fee.

I’ve got to be honest, though, it’s getting harder to actually meet and speak to people.

Candidates. You’re busy, right? You’ve sent off your CV to a fair few recruiters and they all want to speak to you. How could you possibly get time off to go in and actually ‘meet someone’? What benefit would there be in that for you? Actually, an awful lot. It’s surprising that in the industry in which AF Selection specialises (PR, creative, marketing, digital), which is essentially people trying to communicate a message daily, that a void seems to have been created where people forget that we can learn so much more from you when we meet you.

Clients. You’re busy, right? But do you think that just emailing a job spec is going to help us find the right person? We want to talk to you and understand your culture. We want to get lost trying to find your offices (let’s face it, if we will so will our candidates!) and to see the fabulous games room you have, or meet the lovely people that form your team. And, more importantly, you can meet us. You can see that we’re not just faceless beings on the end of the phone or email, and you can tap us for our knowledge, because that’s why we’re Consultants. We have the knowledge.

One hour and a cup of coffee could actually save you hours in interviewing ill-qualified candidates. Those that on paper look to be a good fit, but in reality would be completely unsuitable for your organisation. We might find out that actually we wouldn’t be people you would want to socialise with – which is fine, we can’t like everyone – but you can be absolutely sure that we’ll have a better chance of filling your role.

Recruiters get a terrible press, and, to be honest, some of it may well be justified. 

Flinging out unsuitable CVs. Telling candidates about jobs that aren’t of interest as they’re in the wrong location or not paying enough money. But we’re passionate about what we do; it’s probably why we’re still doing it and we want to keep enjoying it. So next time a recruiter asks to meet with you, don’t think about it as a wasted hour. Think about it as an opportunity to look into someone’s eyes and see how they can understand you, as a candidate or as a client, and hopefully work for you in a better way.

If you’ve got a role and you’d like one of the team to come and meet you, just give us a call!