Hi all. I have been too busy trying to drum up business, no time to indulge myself in shooting socialists and "prattractors" on this site 
. My phone is worn out so I am taking a little time to return to this board with a major gripe.
I have never done so much cold calling as I have done over the past few months. One thing I have learnt is to not pitch to HR/recruitment or shared services unless you are in for the long haul.
To begin with HR/shared services/recruitment departments have become impregnable fortresses who's main objective is not to serve their internal managers but more importantly to keep us dreaded agencies away or put us in our place. Add the fact they also have a monopoly on their company's recruitment business they are mostly completely out of touch with the real world.
Whilst it may be entirely desirable to keep us agents at bay they are now locked into a completely defensive mindset that must surely have an adverse effect on genuine candidates as well on their own performances.
The PSL has now become a defence mechanism that is trotted out at the slightest hint of you being an agent. I have long decided that it is a complete waste of time engaging anyone who has nothing better to say than "we have a PSL"
The good news is that it has dished out a lesson to us recruiters which is that we need to go to the business in order to discover if there are genuine recruitment needs. It is now much easier to get to speak to a board director of a FTSE 250 company than it is to a low level recruitment manager hiding behind a voicemail. Pitching on a voicemail is a total waste of time. Ultimately if you have the solution to a problem no company will allow itself to place the PSL ahead of its business needs.
The ray of hope is that these people are rarely popular amongst the hiring fraternity, and because they have a monopoly they are bound to try to dumb down their internal customers expectations to the level of their own competence. There will always be a "chink" of an opportunity
What is also alarming is the number of ex recruitment agency staff that they employ who are using their position of power to kick back at the industry that they failed in.. not all but some.
The lesson is to make and keep those contacts that you have made over the years.
Back to the phone for me
. My phone is worn out so I am taking a little time to return to this board with a major gripe.I have never done so much cold calling as I have done over the past few months. One thing I have learnt is to not pitch to HR/recruitment or shared services unless you are in for the long haul.
To begin with HR/shared services/recruitment departments have become impregnable fortresses who's main objective is not to serve their internal managers but more importantly to keep us dreaded agencies away or put us in our place. Add the fact they also have a monopoly on their company's recruitment business they are mostly completely out of touch with the real world.
Whilst it may be entirely desirable to keep us agents at bay they are now locked into a completely defensive mindset that must surely have an adverse effect on genuine candidates as well on their own performances.
The PSL has now become a defence mechanism that is trotted out at the slightest hint of you being an agent. I have long decided that it is a complete waste of time engaging anyone who has nothing better to say than "we have a PSL"
The good news is that it has dished out a lesson to us recruiters which is that we need to go to the business in order to discover if there are genuine recruitment needs. It is now much easier to get to speak to a board director of a FTSE 250 company than it is to a low level recruitment manager hiding behind a voicemail. Pitching on a voicemail is a total waste of time. Ultimately if you have the solution to a problem no company will allow itself to place the PSL ahead of its business needs.
The ray of hope is that these people are rarely popular amongst the hiring fraternity, and because they have a monopoly they are bound to try to dumb down their internal customers expectations to the level of their own competence. There will always be a "chink" of an opportunity
What is also alarming is the number of ex recruitment agency staff that they employ who are using their position of power to kick back at the industry that they failed in.. not all but some.
The lesson is to make and keep those contacts that you have made over the years.
Back to the phone for me
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