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As recruitment consultants, we often cringe at the manner in which candidates approach and interact with recruitment agencies. This is of course not the case with all candidates, but many people frequently seem to misunderstand the role of recruiters.
Essentially, we are there to help companies (our clients) to find the right employees for the roles that they have available and in addition to this, to help candidates to find suitable new positions.
In this blog series we will shine a much-needed light on a few of the things that candidates can do in order to significantly improve their interactions with recruitment agencies.
Emailing CVs to recruitment agencies
When candidates approach us looking for work they need to remember that we can receive anywhere from a handful to hundreds of candidate applications on a day to day basis. It is therefore not always possible for us to respond to each and every CV we receive. We also might take a little time to get back to you as well, so patience is definitely a virtue here.
Sending your CV out
When candidates send out a single generic email to dozens of agencies, especially when a multitude of agencies are CC’d or an incorrect agency or individual is addressed in the mail, the CV will almost certainly be deleted. Why? Simply put, we see this as lazy and inconsiderate. You are presenting yourself via your CV throughout the recruitment process, and that means even at this earliest of stages you must be mindful of how you come across.
What candidates need to understand is that when we are considering someone for a role we will spend a great deal of time focusing on the candidate. If that candidate cannot take the time to properly address us and communicate well, we will be reluctant to work with this person.
After you’ve sent your CV
We run educational, credit and criminal checks. We help with CV wording and layout. We take time to interview and understand the candidate’s career path and history. We do everything we can to find roles that match the candidate’s career aspirations.
Next, we engage with companies and plan interviews with them for the candidate, as well as handling interim queries and procedures. This hopefully leads to placing the candidate in a company where they will have a fruitful career.
But it doesn’t stop there.
We enjoy communicating with candidates for a long time after they are placed and offer continuous support in adjusting to new roles.
If you wish to be taken seriously by a recruitment agency, then take that extra time to do your research. Go onto the website and associated LinkedIn groups, look at what industry the company specialises in and see if there are any positions being advertised that match your skills and experience. If there are no positions being advertised that are a match for what you are looking for, but the agency recruits within your industry, then give the agency a call and ask if you can send your CV in to be considered for upcoming positions. Just by being proactive and showing us that you have taken the time to find out about us tells us that you are a serious candidate and not a ‘spam your cv to wherever you can’ type of candidate.