Do you believe in the Recruitment God?

This blog was originally posted on the Talented Word. Click here to view the original post and to subscribe. 

In my last blog I wrote about the rare times when candidates disappear. It’s a recruiter’s worst nightmare, especially when you have an on offer for them. This blog is also about candidates, but it’s definitely not about them disappearing……………………..

I love recruitment, it’s been my career for 14 years now and it will be for another 14 to come -I’ll be 48 then, I wonder if I will retire?……………..probably not so I’ll then have to do another 14 years after that! Although I love my job it can be a hard slog at times and recruitment is a notoriously tough industry to work and be successful in. A lot of the work agencies do for clients is on a contingent basis, so basically you don’t get paid until you find a candidate and they start in the role. Most recruiters earn commission on the roles they fill so it can put the pressure on Consultants to find candidates for their clients.

Therefore it stands to reason that one of the most frustrating things about this role can be when you have a client that is desperate for a candidate but you just can’t find anyone. If you are a recruiter I am sure you have been there and can empathise with this scenario! You’ve advertised and re-advertised, exhausted your networks, searched every corner of your database, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, asked for countless referrals, reached out to your online talent communities but still that perfect candidate eludes you.

It’s a bloody nightmare- the client that you have been courting for months and selling your services to has given you an opportunity to do your thing and you can’t come up with the goods. Not to mention that fact that if you don’t fill this role you won’t get your nice little commission cheque you so desperately want (or need). So you are sitting at your desk thinking about what else you can do to find this candidate and the phone rings. You half expect it to be your client calling to chase you up………….but it’s not……………..it’s better! It’s THE ONE, the candidate you have so desperately trying to find has called asking about what opportunities you have fitting their skill set! They are so perfect you start to think it’s a wind up, maybe another agency calling to try and get some info but no, it’s legit, you’ve struck gold. In the days that follow you screen, interview and present the candidate to your client, the client interviews them and offers them the role! At this point you would normally jump up and down with excitement, high five the whole office, or maybe even do a placement dance but not this time………………this time you simply look up to the sky and thank the Recruitment God for looking down on you.

This scenario is rare, very rare. Attracting, engaging and recruiting candidates for your clients isn’t easy. It takes hard work, perseverance and skill, that’s why we charge what we charge. But we all need a bit of luck sometimes don’t we? Or do we just need the Recruitment God to do us a favour once in a while?

Paul O’Donnell, General Manager – WA