We Need To Talk

My dad was a clockmaker to trade. Pretty much the only useful business advice I got from him was that most people just want their clocks to tell the right time and not to be furnished with a detailed explanation of how a fusee works (although it is quite interesting). Based on his lead, I’ve tended not to say much about my trade because I’ve made the judgement that my clients don’t care.

In the nearly 20 years since I told my last employer to go screw themselves, I haven’t bothered much about the goings-on in the “trade”. When I set Snedden Campbell up my founding principles were essentially to remember how I’d seen other people do recruiting over the previous 15 years and then not do it that way.

However, the course of events over the last year or so has gradually persuaded me that maybe its time to get some things out in the open because they clearly do matter to my present and future clients.

There are longer stories to tell but for now, the summary is that:

  • Recruiters in general accept a low hit rate on filling roles. A 20 – 25% success rate is considered pretty good according to the trade press so multiple recruiters work on multiple jobs
  • Headhunters tend to use the kind of presentational language that would be considered dull by a dead conveyancing solicitor – probably something to do with “gravitas”
  • Companies in medical technology are so unimpressed by the offering available from recruiters at all levels that they will, if they can, internalise the entire recruitment process, and will actively exclude recruiters from events that they attend

I’m indebted to my friend Darren Ledger, a recruiter of some experience, for inspiring me on this. In summary, his opinion is that a lot of the recruiter discussion on public forums isn’t very funny.

In essence, we present ourselves as a trade in which incompetence and crass mismanagement is tolerated indeed accepted as part of life.

In short, I’m starting to care how other people run their recruitment businesses because their incompetence clearly has an effect on mine…thoughts anyone?

Posted on: 23rd July 2018 by Ivor Campbell

Into his fourth decade of search Ivor has a voice with stories to tell, observations to make and the odd picture to share. Mostly related to the day job.

Snedden Campbell Ltd
28 Vorlich Crescent, Callander
FK17 8JE

+44 [0] 1877 330 495
+44 [0] 7799 690390






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