There are more than a few articles demonizing recruiters. Some deserved, some not.
Well, here is a short bit on our priorities, as presented by…a recruiter.
First, a recruiter’s job is to find a person that provides, as close as possible, the requested total of experience, education, background, etc, as requested by a client. We get paid for successfully doing this.
If we do this well and repeatedly for many positions and clients, we get paid enough to earn a living.
So, our first priority is….to earn a living. Just like all of us.
Some of our loyalties/priorities to accomplish this “earn a living” thing:
- We are loyal to the law and to ethics. Failure to do this can result in short-term failure (fine, lawsuit, etc) or long-term failure (destroyed reputation).
- We pay attention to things like confidentiality and so forth.
- We are loyal to our clients. We are to find them the best employee for a position
- We are honest to all; our clients, candidates, etc
- We provide helpful suggestions, be a networking tool, etc. Because we very badly need the general population, our candidates/former candidates, etc, to be that for us
- We do what most of the people in the business world should do: treat others the same as we would like to be treated. Most of us have been on the other side of looking for work. Come to think of it, this kind of works for kindergarteners as well…
There are further nuances, but this should do for now.
This is basically the same order as any job – just change the finer points. Really.
Some examples addressing some of the things I read:
- We are there to help you, that candidate, but we have to do #1-4 first.
- Yes, we should get back to you on the results of an interview. #4 and #6
- We should never tell anyone you contacted us; we cannot tell you some things about a client, at least at first (#2)
There is more to discuss and write. So stay tuned for my next article.
