Dear SantaI have been very good this year. I have returned (nearly) all my candidates' calls, I have given great advice to my clients, I have saved some big projects from being understaffed, and fixed up lots of great people with their dream jobs.
Bearing that in mind, I have made some suggestions for some Christmas presents that I might like...
Detailed feedback from clients
You know those clients we all love - the ones who give detailed feedback about why an applicant is suitable or unsuitable. This helps me to refine my searches, and means I don't waste their time in the future. It's win/ win. More of this please!
Fast offers
So, my client likes my candidate and my candidate likes my client. All is looking good. In fact, my client wants to offer a role to my candidate, and my candidate is keen to accept. Everyone is happy. But then a few days have passed and the written offer has not transpired. My client is starting to say worrying things - like 'the offer has to be signed off by head office', or 'John needs to create the purchase order number, but he is on holiday until 2012.' My candidate is getting nervous, and he thinks the offer is not coming. He's starting to talk to other companies again. My client doesn't understand why I am pushing for them to hurry up the offer. Arghh! Santa - could I please have the opposite of this?
Candidates who read the ad
Yes, I know that you don't have to be perfect to apply. And I know that you might not exactly fit the criteria, but you have other skills that could mean you are great at the job. That's all fine. But if the job is for a qualified Mining Engineer with X years hard rock experience, then please don't send me a letter saying "I feel my background and experience is perfect for this job" when you have worked in the fast food industry for the last 20 years, and your only experience of mining was watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
Contactable references
References are essential, and usually a company will not send an offer out without them. But actually getting hold of references can be a recruiter's nightmare. Everything is in place, ready to go, and then the whole process can be deadlocked by voicemail after voicemail. One candidate (who I shall not name, but I am imagining he was not on your 'good' list, Santa) actually listed a dead reference on his CV. That's right. Among the list of people to whom he hadn't spoken in years, had moved companies, and were no longer traceable, was "Joe Bloggs, Deceased". Well, Santa, in order to get the offer out I did try holding a seance but, alas, Joe did not have much to say...
Straightforward recruitment processes
Santa, I love my clients - I really do. I want to find them the perfect candidates, and I want to do all I can to make sure that those candidates see them first.
Some of my clients don't understand this though. They want the perfect candidate, and they want them before anyone else, but then they send me an email along the lines of "We have now implemented a new recruitment process. When sending a candidate to us, please make sure that you: complete 25 pages of forms, obtain signatures from the candidate, their mums and dads, their milkman, and first grade primary teacher, use our specially tailored CV upload website, and if it crashes out then please keep re-entering the information until it finally gets through (please note, this will only work with some browsers), find out the candidate's star sign, favourite colour, and name of first pet, and put this in another form, which then has to be scanned and emailed to Mary in HR, but she only works at certain points in the lunar cycle, and she will not reply to you. You may only submit candidates for roles that are on our website, which is updated annually. You must then never contact us again, unless we notify you that your candidate was successful."
There is more...
Actually, there is much, much, more, but I don't want to come across as greedy - and I wanted to leave room for the pony too. If you could please see to all of the above, then I promise I will be good next year too!
Thank you, Santa.
Lots of love
A (very well-behaved) Recruitment Consultant
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