Your clients want you to be a better consultant

A Recruitment Consultant is not simply an agent, or a person in the middle who co-ordinates things. While this is part of your role, the bit to focus on is that you are a Consultant – clients will use you and pay for your services because you are acting in a consultative capacity to them.

You have access to information that your clients need, including:

• Market rates for salaries;
• Which jobs are most in demand;
• What the competition is doing to attract and retain staff;
• What it will take for them to secure the candidate they want;
• How they can improve their interview techniques;
• What candidates think of their staff and offices.

When it comes to what candidates are earning in your industry, and what clients are willing to pay, you are the expert in this field – not your client. You may not feel like an expert at this stage, but the more you get to know your market sector the more your knowledge in this area will grow.

The most important thing is to trust your intuition and not be afraid to disagree with your client. This is not to say that you should be argumentative, but as a Consultant you will sometimes need to explain to your client that they have made a mistake. This should always be done diplomatically, sensitively, and backed up by facts. This can be a great tool for building a trusting relationship with your client too. The balance of power in your relationship is even – you are a Consultant to your client on an equal footing.

Common opportunities for consulting with your clients:

Client doesn’t recognise a great candidate

You have sent a CV across, knowing this person is a great match for the company and their vacancies. Your client rejects the applicant, and you don’t understand why.

• A poor Consultant would thank the client for the feedback, and the situation would be unresolved, with the Consultant wondering why the client wasn’t interested.

• An average Consultant would ask the client for feedback, and accept it at face value, or go away privately disagreeing with it.

• A good Consultant would ask for feedback and, assuming they disagree with the client, take on board the client’s concerns but then try to turn them around. For example:

Client: “It looks as if he has moved jobs too many times.”

Consultant: “Yes, it does look like that from his CV. However, up until 2009 he was working as a contractor on short duration projects. He is now keen to work on a permanent basis, as he wants to develop his career in the long term with one company.”

or...

Client: “It doesn’t look from his CV that he has experience in XYZ.”

Consultant: “Yes, his CV doesn't cover that. If you leave it with me I will ask him for a more detailed version, as he has told me that he had extensive experience in XYZ during his time at ABC. I’ll get some more information on that across to you.”

Client wants to pay an unrealistic salary

You are taking a vacancy and the client quotes a salary that seems low to you, or you are in salary negotiations for an offer and your client wants to offer a salary that you know will be unacceptable to your candidate.

A poor to average Consultant will accept the amount quoted, offer it to the candidate, and then when the offer is refused, or no one is interested in the job, shrug and blame the client for offering such a low amount.

A good Consultant will try to educate the client about the market rate, and make it clear to the client that the salary is going to be offputting for most candidates. E.g.,

Client: “I’d like someone with 10 years experience, and we’ll pay around $60k.”

Consultant: “I have to advise you that $60k is well below the market rate for someone at that level. Were you aware of this? If you are looking at that sort of salary level then that would usually be for people with around 5 years experience. Would you consider people at that level? My concern is that someone with 10 years experience would in all likelihood be on a salary of $100k+ and will therefore not be likely to move for such a big salary drop.

or...

Client: “We’d like to offer to Jane Smith. The offer is $50k + super.”

Consultant: “Jane is very keen on your company and the role that you discussed at interview. However, $50k is a lot lower than the figure she was aiming for. In our initial discussions I think we talked about $60k – what’s changed? I’m happy to put the $50k to her, but I think there is a strong chance that she may not proceed on that basis. Is there any flexibility with that figure? Will she be eligible for a salary review in the near future?”

Client is taking too long

You have a great candidate, but your client is taking too long with interview feedback or an offer, and you are concerned they are going to miss out on this candidate.

A poor to average Consultant would chase up the client every now and again, without putting too much pressure on the client or challenging their time frames.

A good Consultant would make the client aware of any other interviews or offers the candidate has, ask questions about why the process is taking so long, and ask for deadlines. E.g.,

Client: “We’re making an offer, but the manager who needs to sign off on it is out this week, so we’ll be in touch when he’s back.”

Consultant: “That’s great. Do you have the details of the offer so that I can put them to the candidate verbally? Which day will the manager be back? Is there anyone else who can sign off? I’m keen to get things moving quickly as he has 2 other offers, and I’m worried we’ll lose him if we take too long.”

or...

Client: “We interviewed John and liked him. There are a few people we need to speak to, so I’ll have to come back to you later.”

Consultant: “That’s good – he’s keen too. What’s the next step? Would it be a second interview, or will the decision be made on the basis of that one? When do you think you will have a decision? He has another interview tomorrow, so I’d like to be able to give him some definites.”

To sum up

Your client has engaged your services as they want your help in order to hire more staff. You are not helping anyone if you simply put CV's across, or arrange interviews, without taking the time to make sure you understand what it is your client really wants and, where necessary, advising your client about what changes they need to make in order to secure those people.

Strive to understand, and strive to help your clients understand, and you are taking the first steps necessary in becoming a valuable asset to your client's business.

Time to toughen up, recruiters

As recruiters we deal with other people every day, and we succeed or fail by our ability or inability to communicate and engage with others.

It is this interpersonal contact that keeps many recruiters interested in their jobs. Good recruiters tend to love interacting with others, building relationships, and feeling that they have made a difference to someone else's life. But recruiters also need to be aware that there is a line between being great with people and being too soft.

'Soft' recruiters tend to fall into some of the following traps:

Adopting pet candidates

This is the one candidate that you want to take under your wing. He is so nice, and so keen, and if only your clients would give him a chance then they would see how much value he would add to their business. You're fast becoming friends with this candidate - in fact you should put him on speed dial. But none of your clients are interested.

Do not waste any more time. Put your energies into more likely prospects, and do not keep this candidate's hopes up any more. Know where to draw a line.

It's not you, it's me

Your client tells you that your candidate (let's call him Joe) was not impressive at interview. He slouched in his chair, gave monosyllabic answers, and actually came across as a bit rude. Joe calls you up and says that he was nervous at interview - terrified, in fact - as he wants the job so badly. He asks how he got on. You feel sorry for Joe, you don't want to dash his (already low) confidence, and so you tell him that they are not going to offer to him, but it is not his fault. They really really liked him, but he wasn't the right fit for that role. That's not lying: that's just fudging the truth a bit and sparing his feelings - right?

Wrong. Joe deserves to know why he failed, and what he can do to ensure that it doesn't happen again. You don't need to be mean ("Well, Joe. They said you had the personality of a dead haddock, actually."), but you do need to be honest. Explain to him that he did not present himself as well as he could. Give specific examples, and explain what he could have done differently. Be diplomatic, but direct.

Hear no evil

Your candidate is perfect for the job. Everything is looking good, and you are calling her regularly and each time she says that she is still keen. Does she have any other interviews? Has she spoken to any other companies recently? Well, of course not! She would have told you. And you didn't like to ask, because what if she had...? Better to just keep the conversation nice, and calculate your impending commission when she starts.

If you don't ask then you are not doing your job properly. You are representing this candidate to your client, and you cannot tell the client that everything is fine if you have not confirmed it with her. Take a deep breath, ask the difficult questions, and be prepared to deal with answers that you might not like. If you know everything that is going on then you are able to work with both parties in a consultative capacity. If you are intentionally uninformed then you are not adding value for anyone, and you are liable to be hit with an unwelcome surprise.

Right, moving on...

You are taking a reference for a candidate. It should just be a formality. The candidate and client are both keen, and everything will be going ahead if the references check out okay. You rattle through the questions with confidence, until the referee drops a bombshell. Weaknesses? Well, the candidate had a few 'issues' with management. This is delivered in an ominous tone of voice. Rightio. On to the strengths! They were great at everything else, right? Let's not delve into unpleasantness and jeopardise this candidate's chance of getting the job.

Wrong. It is your job, as recruiter, to take a reference for the candidate. Your client should be able to sleep easily at night knowing that you, as their trusted professional, have conducted a thorough reference check and delved into any areas that could be cause for concern.

Probing your referee's answers to get more information can also sometimes leave things looking better than you had expected. A situation that sounds worrying can turn out to be nothing of concern when fully explained. And if it is something to be concerned about then you owe it to your client to let them know now, so that they can decide if they still want to proceed. It also means that they can be prepared for any additional training/ differing managing styles that the candidate may require - which leads to a happier candidate and client in the long run.


The bottom line is that you need to maintain professionality at all times. Your clients and candidates will come to value your candour, and should be able to trust that you will be honest, direct, and clear with them at all times.

Imagine if your bank manager 'didn't have the heart' to tell you that you were overdrawn! Taking the easy way out, and omitting information in order to spare feelings will not help anyone in the long run.

Skye Recruitment win at Quest Awards!

Skye Recruitment is celebrating a great week of achievements, after being named 12th fastest growing company in Australia in the BRW Fast 100, and then winning in our category of professional services suppliers in the Quest Business Achiever Awards 2010.

Co-founders Sophie and Kye Macdonald attended the awards along with Craig Trevithick, a Recruitment Consultant at Skye, who had been nominated for an Employee Excellence award, and his partner Heather Zabusky.

The Quest Business Achiever Awards recognise leading businesses around the Brisbane area. Businesses are nominated and voted in by their customer base, and then go through several stages of scrutiny, including being visited by a "mystery shopper".

It is especially meaningful to all at Skye to have been voted for by our clients and candidates. We work hard to deliver the highest level of service, and these awards not only recognise the commitment and hard work put in by all the team, but also drive us further to be the best we can.

We would all like to say a big thank you to everyone who voted for us, and also to the team at Quest and their sponsors.