Job search cuts both ways

Simon Hertnon, dispirited with lack of action, found a small agency that could provide him with a more personal service. Picture / Fotopress

Brook Ready is an honours graduate in advertising, marketing and business communications. But even with those qualifications, he says the attitude of recruitment agencies are one of the reasons he still works at Blockbuster Videos.

The 23-year-old British citizen with New Zealand work experience in marketing and media has been job-hunting in Auckland for six weeks. Although that's not long, Ready says he has signed with five recruitment agencies - including one he visited personally - only to receive the worst service he could imagine.

Among his complaints are that recruiters forget he has called, know he has called but are too busy to get back to him, say they will call him back then don't, and offer him interviews for positions that don't suit his qualifications or career goals.

"They say things like, 'You'd be really good for this sales position,' when I've said I'm not interested in a sales career. I've felt like cattle on a conveyor belt," Ready says.

Simon Hertnon, a writer and entrepreneur, would sympathise. He saw an advertisement and called the advertised consultant. After no answer and no opportunity to leave a message, he left a note with the receptionist. The next day he applied for the job through the internet and included a message asking the consultant to call him. Days later he called again and was promised a consultant would call back that day.

A week later he emailed the head of the multinational recruitment company expressing his incredulity at the inaction.

The manager assured him a consultant would call. After waiting a week, Hertnon gave up.

He secured an ideal contract a few days later - thanks to a small recruitment company that met him personally and took the time to get to know him.

Do New Zealand recruiters need to smarten up their acts or are Ready and Hertnon expecting too much?

Richard Manthel, managing director of recruitment firm Robert Walters and chairman of the Information Technology Contract and Recruitment Association (ITCRA) says that although the recruitment industry is unregulated, applicants put too much store in recruiters being able to deliver exactly the right job within a tight timeframe.

"Email and the internet have made it so easy for an applicant to fire off 10 or 15 identical CVs containing minimal information about themselves. If only 20 per cent are suited to the job, the other 80 per cent still expect to be contacted." Manthel says that bulk-emailing the same CV is an almost guaranteed route to failure because employers that pay recruitment agencies expect to read CVs from people who meet their exact requirements.

"Most New Zealand businesses are very small and only about 15 per cent of all businesses use a recruitment firm, so it stands to reason you should only spend about 15 per cent of your effort looking for a job that way," Manthel says.

He has a point. Job hunting gurus - including Richard N. Bolles, author of What Color is Your Parachute? - have long advised job-seekers to use personal networks and site visits to find a job before it is advertised. And even Ready admits that after becoming disillusioned with agencies he secured interviews by knocking on doors.

So, fair enough, serious career-seekers shouldn't be sitting in cafes waiting for agencies to call. But what about those unreturned phone calls, or being offered interviews that suit the recruiter but not the applicant? What of employers who complain their recruiters deliver a pile of CVs but not personal service?

Manthel says it's a case of buyer beware - not only are there few barriers to recruitment industry entry in New Zealand, too few recruiters belong to the two industry organisations: the ITCRA and the Recruitment and Consulting Services Association (RCSA).

These have best-practice expectations including responding to phone calls and personalising service for employers and applicants.

"The ideal would be for employers to start saying to recruitment agencies, 'If you are not a member of ITCRA or RCSA then I don't want to work with you'," Manthel says.

In January, the RCSA - which covers Australia as well as New Zealand - gave the results of a survey that showed that 91 per cent of its members giving their top concern as the lack of suitable job candidates.

Second was the difficulty finding suitable recruitment staff. The concerns for New Zealand included a reduction in immigration numbers, the Employment Relations Act and ACC levies.

John Harland, general manager for the Auckland branch of recruitment firm Chandler McLeod, says the fact New Zealand now has the lowest unemployment rate in the developed world creates problems and challenges for recruiters.

"Clients always want the best result for the most minimal fee, but you are under time pressure as well. This is a hard industry and we have often been our own worst enemies because we put a lot of pressure on our people and tend to burn them out."

He says while recruiters could improve the way they respond, many do not have sufficient client numbers and resources to do that.

He favours providing employers and applicants with guarantees. "So if a person doesn't work out or leaves the company within a set time the recruitment company will go through the process again for no fee."

Adecco Personnel is one recruitment firm doing just that. Adecco offers a range of six assurances to candidates and host employers for both permanent and temporary positions.

For example, refund vouchers are provided if candidates do not match requirements, and if appropriate candidates cannot be found 10 per cent is deducted from the next client invoice. Temporary candidates are entitled to a career development assessment after nine months continuous employment.

Adecco's CEO Fleur Board says the new programme required a re-think of how Adecco conducted its business.

"We are talking about a way of managing relationships and expectations with people."

This seems wise. Across the employment process, it's clear that applicants, recruiters and employers can all benefit from reviewing their expectations.


CREATING WIN-WIN SITUATIONS

EMPLOYERS

* Use a recruitment agency that is a member of the Information Technology Contract and Recruitment Association or the Recruitment and Consulting Services Association.

* Is the agency just passing on CVs or does it actively engage with both you and the applicants?

* If you are getting more than five CVs to review for one job, either you or your recruiter has not nailed the job brief.

APPLICANTS

* Use websites to look for jobs only after exhausting personal contacts, networking and print advertisements

* If you use the internet, tailor one CV and one cover letter to one job.

* Don't take recruitment firm brushoffs personally. Recruiters won't put you forward if you meet the job ideals by only 50 per cent - or even 80 per cent. They are paid to find the person who is 100 per cent right.

RECRUITMENT AGENCIES

* Plan the recruitment strategy with the client. Know their culture and the kind of people they want. Stay on the lookout all the time.

* Don't use software to filter CVs received through internet job sites. Provide enough information in the advertisement to avoid the need to do this.

* Be aware that providing a poor service to applicants reflects not only on your own brand but on that of your client.

* Consider becoming a member of ITCRA or RSC.