What to do When We Think the Recruiter is our Barrier!

We recently received a response to Karalyn’s blog Should we really hate recruiters, from John (which I’ve transcribed below) and as a fellow job searcher I can really relate to the depth of John’s frustration.

Right off the top I would say to John (and anyone else in a similar position), you have the right to expect nothing but professionalism and excellence from your recruiter of choice.

So if you aren’t getting it, find a new recruitment consultant. Ask around because word of mouth is often the best indicator. There really are good ones out there. You just need to be as determined in your search for a consultant as you are when you’re searching for a job, so happy hunting!

I’d also suggest you have another look at these recent posts on InterviewIQ.

Volunteer your way into a New Job!

Why Can’t Employers see the Forest for the Trees?

Employment in Australia…..doom and gloom……or time to move? This blog in particular is aimed at more mature workers such as myself. I appreciate John’s frustration at being overlooked because of a bias by recruiters and employers towards those with higher qualifications. However there is an undeniable and unstoppable trend towards life-long learning and we ignore the need to upskill and re-educate ourselves at our peril!

It can be a bitter (but necessary) pill to swallow.

And I’d look at all of the recent Blogspotter posts (we really do try to make these relevant to job searchers).

John’s Comment

I’m very glad to have stumbled upon this blog. I’m in the job seeking situation whereby my days are spent scouring the recruitment sites, speaking to recruiters and some potential employers.

Whenever an attractive job appears, I jump on it, ensuring my covering letter is suitably worded, relevant, and will stand out. The same with my CV, ensuring the skills that I’ve gathered with my years of experience, are well promoted.

Many times I’ve approached recruitment agencies, enquiring about a position, e-mailed them my CV and have heard *nothing* back from them. I’ll phone them up about a position I’d like to be put forward for, only to be bluntly told, my experience isn’t relevant. Or, no matter how much experience you have, you *must* have a good degree. Some of them cannot wait to hang up as though I’ve wasted their time.

Now, being honest, I don’t have a degree but I have a couple of Diplomas and other assorted qualifications that ARE relevant to my chosen sector. Plus, there’s years of valuable experience. I am also self-taught in a number of computer related areas.

I do not for a second, disrespect anyone with a degree. If that level of education is what they have to help them in their career, and they’ve worked really hard to achieve that, fair play to them.

I would have liked to say something about those recruiters who show blatant ignorance, a huge amount of snottiness, disrespect, and a total lack of basic manners. However I shall hold back, because I would rather not shower this blog with a string of insults and colourful language.

They make a killing out of other people’s hard work. One recruiter I have been with recently, even botched up a payment causing my account to go overdrawn. They deny responsibility, and the of a manager contradicted herself so many times about this I gave up being nice to her. They haven’t a clue!

In fact, I’m so tempted to go into a “general” commercial recruitment agency, all suited and booted, business like etc. Then, spending however long, registering, filling in forms (they really shouldn’t need forms, when my CV says it all), reading all their terms and conditions, signing my name and dating however many bits of paper they throw at me. Then, all of a sudden. I tear it up, say “sorry, but this really is not for me” before walking out leaving them in limbo. Wasting two hours of THEIR time will hopefully teach those cretins a lesson!

Tagged as: job hunting tips, secrets from recruitment consultants