A significant number of jobs are filled by agencies, connecting job seekers with employers. They rarely call themselves ‘employment agencies’, which they are in law, but use other terms including ‘recruitment consultancy’, ‘staff suppliers’, ‘search’ or ‘search and selection consultancy’, or ‘headhunters’. These businesses operate in different styles and at different ends of the market, but they all have one thing in common: they make a charge to employers for putting people into jobs. Some agencies also place large numbers of temporary workers, and others handle interim managers.
They are an important part of your job search. They are an even more important part of your interviewing experience. Agencies screen candidates so that employers don’t have to, and very often this involves a telephone interview (see Chapter 14) or a face-to-face interview.
Recruitment expert Shirley Howe offers this advice, based on her wide experience: ‘Agency recruiters are focused on the hard core skills. Because most of them will have never done the job themselves, they will work on logical lists to check the candidate ticks all the boxes and has the required amount of experience. The hiring manager on the other hand has generally done the job themselves, or has a very good understanding of what is required. They will be going on their “gut” reaction as to whether they like the person and if they will fit in their team. They won’t necessarily be so concerned with skills, as they will be able to tell from some very simple questions if the person has them.’
Interviews with recruitment consultants vary in terms of structure and quality as much as employer interviews. Some candidates make the mistake of thinking it’s ‘only’ an agency interview, but there are important reasons to take agency interviews seriously, and a number of factors which should shape your thinking.
The last point needs special attention. The feedback you get from recruitment consultants might be the best you ever receive, or might be very slanted to the agency’s perspective. Sometimes they have a distorted picture of how many jobs are available because in a recession employers can often fill jobs without their assistance. Consultants often have strong views about CV format. They usually dislike CV profiles (they want your job history unfiltered so they can ‘sell’ you to an employer, but it’s still true that a good profile helps in a CV you send directly to employers). Sometimes they have hard and fast interview rules (‘always/never wear a white shirt/brown shoes/earrings/a trouser suit ...’). These ‘rules’, like all advice, should be cross-checked against what others recommend, and what works for you and the company that is recruiting you.
External recruiters are busy people and want to understand what you have to offer quickly. Because they want employers to commit, they are highly tuned to employer buy-in, and can persuade employers to make a final job offer decision.
However, where recruitment consultants often excel is in giving candidates no-frills advice about how they come across at interview – advice to take seriously. An executive recruiter told me about sending a candidate to be interviewed by a CEO, who fed back that the panel were ‘exhausted’ after the interview and felt completely drained because this candidate talked incessantly. Afterwards the candidate admitted that he completely forgot his coaching on brevity. A tough feedback session followed – this candidate’s habitual over-delivery and its impact on others were seriously getting in the way of his career prospects.
Judith Armatage, Director of Professional Development at the Recruitment & Employment Confederation adds: ‘A good interview with a trained recruiter can be invaluable – allowing the work seeker to uncover previously unacknowledged skills and the depth of those skills. It should establish the motivations for any job move and importantly establish the key criteria for the next role. An agency interview can also open up new opportunities in terms of flexible working through temporary or contract opportunities.’
Recruitment consultants are essentially relationship driven. If you think about it, it’s obvious. The main part of their job is a consultative sales role, persuading an employer to give them a vacancy to fill. This requires a high level of people and influencing skills. So these are the qualities they respect most in others.
So, like most things in life, who you know can get you through the door and recruitment agencies are no exception. They are far more likely to take your call if you are being recommended by someone who gives them business. So if you know someone who works in HR ask them to recommend someone in the recruitment world.
You need to work hard to get an agency on your side. One consultant summarised short listing: ‘We typically offer four to five candidates to an employer. Candidates one to four will be pretty much identikit matches, but candidate five may have a slightly unusual background with experience in a different sector. This candidate is slightly different from the profile, but one who will impress.’
Another recruiter admitted recently: ‘When I drive home every evening having interviewed between five and eight candidates a day, I ask myself who can I remember? On a good day it’s usually no more than two.’ Busy recruiters often ask candidates to register on a database, but in reality they only turn to it if they are bored or desperate – most short lists are filled with people the recruiter has spoken to recently. Don’t pester, but do maintain relationships with recruiters – by voice, rather than by email. Often an updated CV is a good reason to call.
So, if you are trying to work with an agency and you are advised to ‘email in your CV’, do realise that you have not moved up to first base yet, at least in relationship terms. If you are told to ‘register on the website’ that really means ‘we haven’t begun any kind of conversation with you yet’. Ask for opportunities to speak to actual consultants handling the kind of job you are seeking, and ask them detailed questions about the job. Above all else, however, try to strike up some kind of personal rapport by taking whatever opportunity you can for a face-to-face conversation.
Finally, even if your recruitment consultant is half your age and seems to be giving you very basic advice, don’t be arrogant or complacent, or treat the occasion as uninspiringly routine. Don’t let your doubts about recruitment consultancies or agencies influence this one interview or decision. Agencies need a flow of enthusiastic, committed candidates.
So, what matters in this kind of interview? A small amount of content, and a large amount of trust. You wouldn’t be getting an interview if you didn’t have at least some of the skills and experience required, so what matters now is answering two big questions in the recruitment consultant’s mind: (1) ‘Can I place this person?’ and (2) ‘Will this person get an uncomplicated YES at interview?’ Therefore it really matters that you take a recruiter interview just as seriously as the real thing, and give detailed, memorable answers to (1) and send off a whole range of positive signals confirming (2).
Think of a few questions you could ask the interviewer to demonstrate your interest.
Joëlle Warren, Executive Chairman, Warren Partners