Recruiters Need to be More Creative

The recruitment profession has come under fire for failing to think outside the box when compiling candidate lists for clients.

Jonny Cainer, founding director of recruitment agency Marketing Professionals UK, has criticised the entrenched methods used by many agencies. He says that too many recruiters fail to spot transferable skills in candidates and only propose those with same sector experience to clients.

Many companies don’t even get to interview highly talented people simply because their recruitment agency has failed to exercise a little creativity and intelligence, says Cainer.

Time and again we see extremely talented candidates who have been trying to break into a different sector for years but to no avail. More often than not, they have extensive experience and skills to take with them but get knocked back by recruiters scared of presenting a ’non-typical’ candidate for interview.

Cainer admits that client companies are often equally to blame for being too cautious and insisting on same sector experience.

However, he says some companies are finally taking a more progressive approach to recruiting ’outside the box’.

BAA appointed a Senior Marketing Manager who had previously worked in the medical insurance and financial services sectors. Her experience couldn’t have been further removed from their field!

While Hilltop Products, which specializes in electrical insulation sleevings, appointed a Marketing Manger whose previous job had been in the marketing department of a credit management company.

Both placements have worked out very well and prove that same sector experience should not be viewed as a prerequisite of doing a good job.