Good Practices of Good recruitment consultants

I wrote a post last week Annoying practices of bad recruitment consultants, I thought I would balance up the argument a bit and note down some of the good practices of Recruitment consultants.

no... I can't think of any, well that was a quick post.

Just kidding

It also intrigued me to see which would be the more popular post, the good or the annoying.

The number of good recruitment consultants I have been in contact with is not many, most are average but there are quite a few poor ones but this is probably true for most professions I'm guessing.

So what do I think are good practices of recruitment consultants (please add your own to the comments section)

I find it's usually in the questions they ask you, which is really to get you to ask the questions about what you want and your motivation.

Question - What do you want in a new job

Good recruitment consultants ask you want you want in a new job. Money is important but after you have been working somewhere for a while you won't notice how much more money you are getting (because it will be the new norm) and then it's all down to the job, the career, the company etc.

Question - what do you want in a new company

Different companies work better for different people so it will help if you have a personality which will fit in well at a new company.

Companies also come in different sizes and shapes, it's very different working for a small company compared to a big company. The candidate needs to think about the type of company he wants to work for, not only now but also in the next 5 years.

Question - How do you see your career

It's important the recruimtent consultant finds out about the candidates career ambitions because this will effect the positions and companies which are a good fit for the candidate.

Money

The better recruitment consultants take money as one part of a new job and it's not the most important. Obviously everyone would like more but the other parts of the job are more likely to effect the

Consideration of workplace

Potential candidates cannot always answer their phone at work, it can be difficult answering questions about pay, what you want in a new job when surrounded by your current work colleagues, boss and sometimes director. Good recruitment consultants will leave a message or send you an email.

It's always good practice to check if it's a convenient time to speak before you set off selling a new position

Contact and relationship

people like it when you remember details about them, so when you call you can refer to something like their favourite football team, location, family, hobby. It makes it feel like the recruitment consultant hasn't just called up because they have a new role.

Frequency of contact

Ask if it's OK to contact you in six months or if a really juicy role comes up and then do that. I personally don't mind fielding a call once every six months

Listen

A sign of a great recruitment consultant is they listen to your answers and note them down. So if someone says they are not interested in contract roles they don't ring them up offering a really great contract role.

Attitude

Good recruitment consultants are not pushy or aggressive on the phone

Do you really want to move

Well it's a good question, ask it early and you can save everyone some time

Question - have you discussed this with your boss, what do they say

This is a good question good recruitment consultants ask because basically it could save everyone a lot of wasted time. If a candidate is unhappy at work it may be easily resolved by discussing it with their boss to see if they can resolve the issue.

This seems counter productive but I think it builds a relationship and a move might happen in the future.

Question - have you discussed this with your family

Moving jobs can have a big impact on family life, it's a good idea for the candidate to have discussed this with the family, especially if he has a bossy partner :-)

Question - how far do you want to commute, commuting can be difficult

Good recruitment consultants will be honest about the commute, poor recruitment consultants will tell you 120 miles isn't that far. I personally think commuting is a very important issue because time is a valuable resource and you have to question yourself if you really want to spend more of it sitting in a car by yourself (or a packed train).

Give you information on the company AND the person you are talking to

Good recruitment consultants will give the candidate lots of information about the company, other people they have placed, size, culture etc. Really good recruitment consultants will also give you information about the people who will be conducting the interview, what they want to hear (based on previous feedback) and lots of extra information to increase the chances of success.

Advice on what technical skills and what type of personality they are after

The culture of a company and the types of personality which thrive are important aspects of a job. A good recruitment consultant will tell you what he knows about the culture and the type of person they are looking for to see if it suits you.

Summary

It's interesting looking at the list, most of the list is building up a good relationship/rapport with the candidate and making sure he is making the correct discussion. This seems counter intuitive but it's a long time tactic that will pay off in the long term. Personally it's the short time attitude and consequence actions of poor recruitment consultants which I find annoying.

Bad recruitment consultants view candidates as a commodity, they quickly see if they are a fit for a role and if not drop them quickly (this makes more difficult next time you call)

Good recruitment consultants see candidates as people.