Some time ago - before my day job, I assure you, I was interviewing for various positions, and was called for an interview by one particular company, BMS IT, in the UK. Now, normally I wouldn't name and shame in this fashion, but since I do review online Internet companies by name, I ask myself why a recruiter should be treated any differently.
So I sat down with the recruiter (he'll be unnamed) in an office in downtown London, and we had a conversation about the job at hand. It seemed somewhat relevant for my background, so points scored there. More importantly, we talked about recruiting as an activity. He expressed how baffled he was that recruiters didn't call back their candidates after talking with them, and seemed to really understand the perspective of the candidate. Music to my ears! Very professional. We discussed another position and said he would send the details of it after our meeting. I believe I also needed to follow up with perhaps another cover letter or version of my CV, or something of this nature. I did my part in a follow-up email. And I heard nothing from him...ever.
How can a person criticize unprofessional behavior and then turn around and do exactly what he has just criticized? Oh, life, and the injustices we see every day.
So that irritated me. What irritated me more was when somebody else from that office called me weeks later for a different position. I expressed what had happened and told the person on the phone, quite clearly, to remove my name from their database of CVs. That was roughly a year ago.
Now, what's really funny is that this company called me AGAIN about a week ago. The guy said he wasn't sure whether I would be the right fit, but might know somebody who is. I politely told him to email me the details of the job. How did they get my name? Have they seen my CV? My guess is that they have, because they never got rid of it in the first place. It's possible he found my name on linkedin.com ...but as far as I can see my phone number is not published there. I have to assume the worst.
Now, my instinct tells me these guys could get into hot water for ignoring my request. So my overall assessment of this company is:
1: Jobs (as published, for what that's worth) are pretty good.
2: Organizational skills are bad.
3: Long term relationships and intangibles (trust, etc.) -- well, read the passage above if you are still not clear on my view there.
Enough on that company.
Recruiting companies often simply behave like card shufflers. The stack of cards on the left are jobs. The stack of cards on the right are CVs. Shuffle left, shuffle right. Turn over a card from each stack. If there's a vague match, make a call.
Guess what? A computer can do that--and faster. And this is what got me interested in the online HR business so long ago. Now, my own venture is far from perfect (though not bad considering only one guy was ever really driving it), and my blogs may not have won prices for journalism, but at least my heart has always been in the right place: Eliminate the people that aren't adding value to the system because they are not helping people find jobs, and not helping companies find employees. Create a more liquid economy where companies are not rewarded for hording jobs and CVs, but for making the right match through real understanding of the candidates and of the jobs. Everything else? Leave to the machines.
Coming soon, a return to Zubka..
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