The Biggest Misconceptions of the Recruitment Industry
We’re excited to have you back with us again for another instalment from the Tru Talent team.
In this month's blog, we’ll take a deep look at the most common misconceptions about recruitment specialists and the recruitment industry as a whole.
We understand that the recruitment industry has had a bad rap and in some cases for good reason. The shame is that we all get tarred with the same brush and those who stand out from the crowd with great service, exceptional practices and always putting the client and candidate first just seem to be drowned out by the consistent noise of the industry. We’re going to share with you these most common misconceptions and how we do things differently here at Tru Talent. You can always be sure of the service you’ll receive if you ever decide to work with us either as a client who is looking for the best talent or if you are a candidate looking for support to land your dream next role.
1. “Recruiters are just too 'salesy'”
One of, if not the most common misconception about recruitment specialists is that they are just too ‘salesy’, they only care about the money and don’t see you as a person, only as a potential paycheck.
It’s a tale as old as time, recruiters have notoriously been known to act this way throughout the ages. We hear time and time again from clients and candidates who have had poor experiences with recruitment agencies, it has to be said that recruiters treating their clients and candidates like numbers or potential paychecks has to be among the biggest turn-offs for anyone who has ever used an agency in the past. That is why one of our most important governing principles here at Tru Talent is ‘people over profit’, we will never treat you as a number and will always give you the time and space needed to fully understand your needs, desires, and aspirations for your next season.
We take our role as specialists very seriously and will always work our hardest on your behalf to seek out the best possible talent for your company or the best-suited opportunity for your next role. You’ll never receive a pushy service and we’ll never ‘steamroll’ you into making a decision that isn’t right for you. You come first when you work with us here at Tru Talent.
2. What does working with a Recruitment agency look like?
This one is filled with misconception, this may be because most agencies work in a similar way but almost all have their own individual nuances that make them stand apart. We can only tell you what it looks like to work with us and the service you’ll receive with our team.
We look at this from two angles, what it looks like to work with us as a client and also as a candidate.
If you work with us as a client, we’ll help you to find the best talent around to grow your team and take your business to the next level. We will initially spend a dedicated amount of time with you to fully understand your goals, your needs and we never forget the importance of your company's culture and the right ‘character fit’ for your team. We will then draw up a job advert with your approval and begin the important process of reviewing and further screening each individual application to then deliver a shortlist of only the most suitable candidates for the role. We do this by using the vast array of tools, experience, and industry connections we have. You will then have the opportunity to review the shortlisted candidates we send to you and interview your favourite ones. Once the interview stage is complete, you’ll be able to offer the most stand-out candidate the role or come back to us if after the interview stage we still haven’t found the perfect person for you.
We are here with you every step of the way and take care of all of the stress of the recruitment process. We are the intermediary between you and the candidates. We’ll support you with reviewing candidates, organising all interviews, lending advice on putting forward offers for the successful candidate, and any further negotiations on salary or package you may need. Our full experience and expertise are at your disposal both during and after the placement has been made. As the client, a fee is incurred for the successful placement of a candidate, however, you won’t pay a thing until the right person is placed in your business. You’re safe in knowing that there is no charge unless we find you a great person for your team and even then you are always protected with a rebate agreement for those rare occasions when the candidate just doesn’t work out. We’ll touch on this more below.
If you work with us as a candidate we will first and foremost spend time with you to deeply understand your skills, experience, and your desires for a new role. We’ll then suggest a range of possible opportunities that are available and lead you along the journey to your interview and hopefully an offer. We’ll support you where and how you need it, if it's help with improving your CV, interview preparation or just gaining a deeper understanding of the current job market and the opportunities that currently exist. We’ll also organise all interviews and share important feedback with you. As the candidate, you don’t pay at any point during the process.
3. What is the role of a Recruitment Specialist?
As you’ve seen above, the role of a recruitment specialists is to support you through the entire recruitment journey. We are here to take the stress and confusion out of this process and we utilise our extensive years of experience, knowledge, industry tools, and connections on your behalf. This is the same for all candidates and clients who choose to work with us.
4. “Recruitment agencies are just glorified resourcers in disguise”
Some agencies are, but we are most certainly not! Resourcing in its essence is where a recruiter will go out to job boards that they have access to and search for suitable CVs that may fit the role. They may also create and put out a job advert across these job boards to gain more active candidates. They will then forward these CVs to the client who is looking to fill a role, most usually in a ‘shotgun effect’ to throw enough candidates at the client until something sticks… this is definitely not how we do it at Tru Talent.
We provide a full 360 recruitment service that will not only deliver a great range of candidates for the role you are wishing to fill but these candidates will have been fully screened by our team because we only ever put forward the most amazing candidates for your review. It doesn’t stop there, as we have already shared, we take care of the entire recruitment process from start to finish to minimise the stress and the time it takes to find great new additions to your company's teams. We come with the full strength of many years of experience, our bespoke industry tools, our carefully curated connections and business relationships, our database of incredible candidates, and most importantly with our people-focused approach to recruitment.
5. “The fees are just too expensive”
We’re all feeling the pinch at this time and as a result agency fees can seem a little scary when we’re all counting the pennies. Our fees have, and will always be competitive in comparison to the market. Our first question for clients who may not see the value initially of what we deliver is “What is your time worth?” As a company owner or senior member of any team, your time is valuable! The recruitment process is usually a time-consuming one if done correctly and with due diligence. Therefore that’s why our first question is always what’s your time worth or maybe a better question could be what’s the pain worth?
Using a recruitment agency is not always the right choice for all those looking to grow their teams with top-class talent. However, we would encourage you to answer the questions below and if you answer ‘No’ to more than a couple of questions we’d suggest a recruitment agency could be just the right support you need.
Are you confident to write a job advert for your role that will draw in the quality candidates you are ideally looking for?
Do you have paid access to the most suitable job boards for your industry to both post your job advert and to also review potential candidates who are not actively applying for your role?
Do you have time to headhunt great candidates for your role if you are not receiving suitable applicants from your job advert?
Do you have the time to review a large number of CVs?
Are you confident you can discern a good candidate from a poor candidate from their CV?
Do you have time to screen those potential candidates whose CVs you’re interested in to discover if they truly are right for the role?
Do you have an existing database of skilled and experienced potential candidates?
Do you have time to organise and book all the interviews needed for each candidate?
Do you have the help and support needed for any negotiations such as salary, package, and benefits or further developments to the role in question?
6. “What if the candidate doesn’t work out, will I lose all my money”
You’re protected with us and if the candidate doesn’t work out you won’t lose all the fees you’ve paid. We have a rebate program in place that works on a sliding scale. For example, if the candidate we have placed with you doesn’t work out for any reason within the first week you will receive 100% of your money back. From the first week onwards you will then receive a percentage of the fee back depending on how long the candidate has been in the position. Not all agencies offer this service but we do because first and foremost we want you to be confident that you will receive the right candidate for your role and the best service possible. ‘People over profit’ remember!
We really hope this blog has dispelled some of those all too common misconceptions about recruitment specialists and the recruitment industry as a whole. We can’t speak for them all but we can speak for ourselves, and we hope this has given you a glimpse into how we do things here at Tru Talent.
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As always, we’re only a call or email away, so drop us a message if we can support you with any of your recruitment needs.