{"id":9931,"date":"2016-12-01T09:00:12","date_gmt":"2016-12-01T17:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/recruitloop.com\/blog\/?p=9931"},"modified":"2023-05-12T11:03:16","modified_gmt":"2023-05-12T18:03:16","slug":"5-ways-discover-recruiters-arent-wizards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/5-ways-discover-recruiters-arent-wizards\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways to Discover That Recruiters Aren\u2019t Wizards"},"content":{"rendered":"

I speak to employers, business owners, HR managers, and heads of talent acquisition all the time. In fact I\u2019ve been doing so for over 20 years.<\/p>\n

A few weeks ago I was at a business networking event and was taken aback when I overheard a conversation between the group of people standing behind me.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy is it so damn hard working with recruiters?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTell me about it. If I\u2019d known it would take this long, I could have just done it myself<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTalk about over promise and under deliver<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Now I\u2019m not exactly the shy type so, on cue, I turned around to introduce myself.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you had a problems with recruiters too?<\/em>\u201d, one of them asked me clearly before noticing the word \u2018RecruitLoop\u2019 printed on my name badge.<\/p>\n

How to break up a party in one swift move.<\/p>\n

I stood there for a second feeling agitated that after being in the game for over two decades, recruiters are still getting a bad rap. To be honest it\u2019s probably because you think we\u2019re working against you! Trust me we are not (all) trying to rip you off.<\/p>\n

Believe it or not,\u00a0many of us<\/a>\u00a0won\u2019t manipulate you into taking someone on who isn\u2019t right for you; or convincing you to pay someone more than they deserve just so we can charge a higher fee. We actually want to find you the best possible candidate. We\u2019re on your side. We just want to let you get on with what you do best, while we get on with what we love to do \u2026 and do what we do best. But despite what you think, we\u2019re not<\/em> mind readers, wizards or magicians. We might be good \u2026 but we\u2019re not that<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

If you want to engage a magician to help you find your needle in a haystack, diamond in the rough, purple unicorn, or [insert any other clich\u00e9 here to define \u2018the impossible\u2019 candidate], I believe you\u2019ll find David Copperfield performing in Vegas.<\/p>\n

In the meantime here are few things you can continue doing as a hiring manager to quickly discover that your recruiter is not a wizard.<\/p>\n

1. Don\u2019t bother properly briefing your recruiter<\/strong><\/h2>\n

We had a client tell us recently that he actually didn\u2019t have time to even speak to a recruiter. He just wanted to email them his job description so the recruiter could \u201cget on with it\u201d.<\/p>\n

When we say we need to speak with you (or perhaps even meet with you) to get a better understanding of what you\u2019re looking for, there\u2019s a reason for it. If we don\u2019t get to know you and your business properly, what will end up happening is that you won\u2019t like anyone we send you and that\u2019s when all the complaining starts.<\/p>\n

Nobody knows your business better than you do. And if you want us to help you grow your team, you\u2019ll have to share some of the information in your head with us.<\/p>\n

Every company is different. So even if we\u2019ve recruited a hundred [insert position title] candidates for other organisations in the past, the person you\u2019re looking for will be different.Spending some time with us up front will prevent a lot of time wasted later.<\/p>\n

There really is no such thing as being able to pull a rabbit out of a hat!<\/p>\n

2. Don\u2019t provide us with a job description<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I\u2019m not a yes<\/em> person. So if you asked me to find you a [insert position title] for your business and then said \u201cCome on, Paul. Surely you know what I\u2019m looking for<\/em>\u201d, you know what? I wouldn\u2019t even think about your role for a second.<\/p>\n

I need a job proper job description.<\/p>\n

And you know what else? If you scribbled a few bullet points on to a Post-it Note and gave it to me, I still wouldn\u2019t even consider working on your brief.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not uncommon for an employer to know that they definitely need to bring somebody new into the business, but to not have carefully thought out exactly what it is that the new team member would be doing. This is a dangerous way to start.<\/p>\n

There is no question that every candidate expects to see a job description if they are even going to consider a career move. If a recruiter can\u2019t provide a potential candidate with a job description, what sort of impression will that create? Trust me the candidate will probably think the job doesn\u2019t even exist \u2013 no matter how good a sell job the recruiter does.<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t create a potion to make a candidate believe that a position is real!<\/p>\n

3. Have a completely unrealistic salary expectation<\/strong><\/h2>\n

We had a client brief us on a role recently in a city with one of the highest costs of living in the United States. The base salary on offer was $30,000.<\/p>\n

When the recruiter challenged the client on it, the recruiter was accused of already coming up with excuses as to why he wouldn\u2019t be able to fill the role. Irrespective of an uncapped commission structure, it would be practically impossible for someone with a family (another one of this particular client\u2019s expectations) to even consider a $30K base salary.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no magic wand or spell for that one either.<\/p>\n

4. Don\u2019t provide us with any feedback<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Working with a recruiter is a two-way street.<\/p>\n

We send you profiles and r\u00e9sumes, we organise interviews, and you meet with our candidates.<\/p>\n

All along the candidates are craving feedback \u2026 even just a quick update \u2026 eager to hear about potential next steps. If we don\u2019t keep them updated, their only thought is that\u00a0<\/em>we<\/em>\u00a0have forgotten about them (or actually that we don\u2019t even care about them). Never once do they think\u00a0you<\/em>\u00a0haven\u2019t been able to come back to\u00a0us<\/em>\u00a0with feedback.<\/p>\n

So please \u2026 if we send through a handful of r\u00e9sumes, please call us (or at least email us) with your initial thoughts. If you interview one of our candidates, please don\u2019t just delete and ignore those voicemails that we leave you over the next 24 hours asking for your feedback. Please call us to discuss how the interviews went.<\/p>\n

We just want to keep your candidates in the loop.<\/p>\n

One of our clients recently decided to wait 17 days<\/em> before returning the recruiter\u2019s call soliciting feedback. When the recruiter explained that the candidate had chosen to pursue another opportunity because of the delay, the client bluntly accused the recruiter of \u201cnot even being able to keep a candidate warm<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n

You might think we\u2019re wizards, but we certainly don\u2019t keep candidates simmering in a cauldron!<\/p>\n

5. Deny the reality of a poor employer brand<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A client briefed me personally on a role a few months ago. She admitted it was \u201ca bit of a toughie\u201d. When I asked her why, she told me that there had been five people in the role over the last 2 years.<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t even flinch when I responded with \u201cthat means each person only lasted around five months<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n

A quick search on Glassdoor revealed an absolutely horrendous rating. There were comments from candidates claiming to have been kept waiting in interview rooms for up to two hours; several references to a \u201ctoxic environment\u201d; and reading between the lines, probably even a few harassment claims. When I explained that it probably wouldn\u2019t be right for us to take the project on, she got quite defensive and desperate to the point of saying \u201cbut I\u2019ll pay anything<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n

Nope. We\u2019re not into smoke and mirrors. We\u2019re not illusionists. We\u2019re not into making things appear not quite as they seem.<\/p>\n

So let me re-iterate what I\u2019ve been getting at.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re here to help you find the best possible talent for your organisation. But we won\u2019t be casting any spells or using sleight of hand; we won\u2019t be making candidates drink any secret potions; we don\u2019t have magic wands or crystal balls; we\u2019re not mind readers; we look at resumes not Tarot cards.<\/p>\n

Recruiters aren\u2019t wizards. That\u2019s it in a nutshell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are few things you can continue doing as a hiring manager to quickly discover that your recruiter is not actually a wizard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[73],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n5 Ways to Discover That Recruiters Aren\u2019t Wizards<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here are few things you can continue doing as a hiring manager to quickly discover that your recruiter is not actually a wizard.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zippia.com\/employer\/5-ways-discover-recruiters-arent-wizards\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Ways to Discover That Recruiters Aren\u2019t 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