Why does the Recruit-to-Recruit sector have a poor reputation?

Itís widely suggested that the R2R sector has a poor reputation and I have to agree the reputation is unfortunately deserved. I know thereís a danger of some people thinking ëthatís the pot calling the kettle blackí, but I speak from over 25 years Recruitment experience. Prior to founding Aston Taylor I built & sold two IT agencies in the City, with nearly 80 staff and generating 30m. I used numerous R2Rís and have to admit the service was generally appalling. The sheer lack of understanding of both my requirements and the candidatesí abilities was astounding. Now as the owner of the UKís top R2R Consultancy we often battle against our sectorís poor image.

I feel this sector is maturing; after all itís only existed for around 15 years. But why does the R2R sector have such a poor reputation and what can be done to improve it?

To start with, itís the people in it. Many people fall into R2R for the wrong reasons and with the wrong skills. As with most recruitment sectors, there are no barriers to entry in R2R. Anyone can get into it ñ even if they were weak Recruiters in the first place. Many of these weak Recruiters see the enormous volume of vacancies and think it must be an easy market. What they fail to appreciate is that this is a candidate-led market ñ not client-led. The ability to win new business is simply not a high priority. However, the ability to identify & attract the best candidates is absolutely the issue. For instance, Recruiters from high volume, temp agencies may not have had experience of head hunting a candidate, undertaking in-depth interviews, and patiently managing the process ñ sometimes over many weeks or months. Good Recruiters they may be, but itís largely a different process placing Perms than Temps. So, the first reason for the poor reputation is there are too many people working in the sector who do not have the experience to understand the market and, in particular, really understand the candidates.

The second reason is perhaps even more controversial: clients do not help themselves. Some clients do not provide full & open information in areas such as salaries, commission, reasons for vacancies, actual career prospects, etc etc etc. Itís astounding how often (potential) clients will resist passing almost any information ñ especially regarding money. Yet they say they want motivated, hungry consultants to work for them. If the client wonít tell us, how can we convince these rare candidates to be interested in the client ? I have to wonder if these same companies know how to take a proper job spec from their own clients.

Finally, the candidates also have to accept some responsibility for R2R ës image. Itís unbelievably that a candidate ñ an experienced Recruiter ñ will fail to turn up at interview and will fail to return calls. We all know how it feelís when a candidate doesnít show ñ but when that Candidate is a fellow Recruiter Ö? Fortunately, this doesnít happen much at Aston Taylor due to our stringent interviewing methods, but no R2R is totally immune to this frustrating, unprofessional practice. Thereís really no excuse for lack of contact these days, with so many methods to communicate. Itís basic good manners. But thatís another topic.

So come on, fellow Recruiters, this is a great business. R2R should be the flagship sector promoting & improving the reputation of the whole industry.

Vic Chuntz
CEO
Aston Taylor
Recruitment to Recruitment