Priority Placements

DIY Recruitment – Is it really a good idea?

The results from consistent and persistent “cold calling”, meetings, and business development is that there are a good number of jobs available in the market. We also know that a percentage of these jobs are being managed by client companies directly. In most cases we ask the potential client and ourselves “is this wise?” The reason we ask this is that they tell us they are receiving hundreds of applications. Some of these clients will see a couple of our candidates as a comparison. Most will struggle along with the hordes of CV’s, phone and email queries. Recently we hear from a survey conducted by the ESRI – see http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/... 246058800html that job applicants with typical Irish names are twice as likely to be called for interview as those with minority names. This is not surprising as it would appear that companies are short cutting on screening the CV’s and opting for the familiar when really they should be finding the ideal candidates.

We know from feedback in the marketplace from candidates that most do not receive a reply to their application, nor can they get through to anyone if they try to ring and see if it has been received, and rarely do they receive an email response. Whilst waiting for a response the candidates impression of that company has dropped considerably and so if the company finally does call them in for interview the question is “will they be available?”. If they are lucky enough to be called and are available for interview there is often limited communication regarding preparation for that meeting i.e. how many involved in the interview, testing procedures, interview process etc. In some cases they have been told there will be a second interview only for the candidate not to hear from them again. Not good practice.


In steps the good agency / consultancy; they help with the job specification making sure there is sufficient understanding and indeed broadening of the role so suitably qualified candidates can be identified for interview; an agency will have their current database to look to as well advertising available to the client. Consultants will screen a high number of potential candidates checking location, salary expectations, skill set, systems experience etc; A short list is produced and recommendations are made. Interviews are set up and managed by the consultant. Consultants prepare the candidates for the interview again making sure of their suitability – that there is no deal-breaker about to happen (they forget to mention the 6 weeks honey moon break they have planned 2 months after the start date). If there is testing – the candidate is made aware and can prepare in advance. References and academic checks can be done. The consultant will help with the negotiation of the offer and make sure contracts are sent out to the lucky candidate. End to end recruitment is not easy but using a competent recruitment agent can definitely make the path a hell of a lot smoother and potentially less costly than you might think. Remember there is no charge until the candidate starts the position and worse case scenario should the candidate fall out of the role for some reason other than redundancy most agencies offer a rebate scheme or replacement. Now isn’t that worth thinking about?