Blogathon 18/20: Recruitment consultants need help

I had a call from a recruitment consultant this morning.

Now then, contrary to popular belief, I’m not the kind of guy who loads up the 12-bore shitometer and gives people both barrels of shit at point blank range for no good reason…

And I didn’t do that this morning, either.

Even though I should have.

The RecCons in question (no names to spare embarrassment but she works for a company that boasts they are – and I quote – Serious about talent) started asking me about a contract I worked on in 2011.

That’s nine years ago.

As the RecCons continued to not get the point of me saying I haven’t worked in that industry (doing much the same job that I do now, but her take on this was industry-specific), it became obvious she was a new employee and trying to find her feet.

So I uncocked both barrels of the shitometer and put it down and tried, patiently, to explain to her that my knowledge of that industry was nine years out of date.

So then she asked who I answered to on that project.

Wut?

There are times when I can’t remember who I spoke to nine minutes ago. The chances of me remembering who I worked for nine years ago (for context, that was eight employments ago because at that time I was a contractor, living on three-month gigs which sometimes extended and sometimes didn’t) are slimmer than Rizzla paper.

I explained this to her.

So then she started asking how I got into ‘that industry’ – painfully showing she hadn’t appreciated that a contractor in my role works in many different industries over the course of their professional life.

So this is my point…

If I were a RecCons I would at least make sure I understood the difference between permanent employees in a specific industry and contractors who float between many different employer-types.

That’s what I would do.

Wouldn’t you?

Still, she had a very pleasant telephone manner, so there’s that.

One thought on “Blogathon 18/20: Recruitment consultants need help

  1. When I was contracting and working all over the country (and looking for a change), I received a message via that LinkedIn rubbish from a recruitment agency. The role looked like it could suit me, so I messaged them. They replied back with a few details and I was definitely interested: doing what I was doing now, but in a smaller geographical area and with similar pay. I called them and after five minutes on the phone, figured out which company they were recruiting for, and that I would actually be spending even more time away from home, covering just as large an area and for less money.
    I still get recruitment consultants contacting me on LinkedIn.
    I don’t reply.

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