Recruitment has changed significantly over the last few years with the advancement in technology; much of which has gone unnoticed, which we will explain more about later in this post.
Lets explore a throwback, to when you would simply chat to your friendly recruiting partner about the role or roles you wanted to fill. They would go away and work their recruiting magic, in the case of Lucy Walker Recruitment, that would be and still is a 26-step process.
This would include mapping out the spec in detail, reviewing our current database, exploring talent pools, advertising, screening by phone and face to face; and the list goes on. There would then be calls, conversations and appropriate CVs faxed over; I remember it, well do you?
But times have changed however and technological change has allowed recruiters the opportunity to take significant shortcuts in their processes.
As one of the most established and respected commercial recruiters in Leeds, we have heard a few shocking stories over the years, and even last week one of our consultants revealed that ‘bad practice’ is still alive and kicking.
We had a long-standing temp candidate come into our offices recently and comment how nice it was that an agency wanted to meet her as no one does these days. She told us stories of countless agencies picking her details off of job boards and setting up interviews for roles her skill set didn't warrant and her mindset simply wouldn't allow. They hadn't even spoken to her before introducing her to their client!
WHAT!
It’s no wonder some recruitment agencies and our industry get a bad name. We are in a people driven service business or am I missing something? What someone writes on paper can both over or undersell their capabilities aptitude and attitude.
Technology Is Great, And It Does Have Its Limitation!
Here at Lucy Walker, we are massive fans of technology; you have probably watched our videos across all our social channels already.
With technology continuing to evolve, the different ways to communicate are endless; email, landline, smartphone, WhatsApp, instant messenger, Skype, Zoom etc all now mean there are endless potential methods out there.
Despite this, I firmly believe that for a recruitment company, geographical and logistical limitations permitting, face to face is always, without fail, the best way to communicate with both candidates and clients. So if you're able to physically do this, why wouldn't you?
Our team call and email their candidates and clients, and the best relationships we build can be tracked to our face to face conversations and meetings.
At Lucy Walker Recruitment we are fortunate enough to be able to insist on interviewing candidates face to face: it’s what our clients expect and deserve, and it’s what our candidates need in our eyes to establish an effective service for themselves.
For us, the recruiter, it’s invaluable when it comes to differentiating between candidates who in a word document can in reality all look similar. It enables us to shortlist candidates effectively and get the client's interview process off to an effective start. It's the candidates chance to stand out from the crowd by "wowing" the recruiter.
You can learn so much more about a person meeting them face to face than you ever could through email text or phone. That's why despite it being the oldest, in our eyes it is still the most effective recruitment technique out there to work alongside the latest methods.
Which leads me onto something else…
Your Body Language Reveals Your Attitude and Approach
We have written a blog post about body language. In it, we shared the shocking statistics about the impact of your body language; both in a positive and less than helpful way. If you want to learn more, you can read the post here.
This information is based on many decades of research about the science of body language by Albert Mehrabian of UCLA.
He revealed that when we communicate a message, the receiver’s feelings and attitudes are 7% determined by spoken communication while 38% relates to our voice and all its qualities. This means that 55% of how we communicate relates to our body language.
………. and yet many recruitment agencies still don’t meet candidates?
As a candidate I know I would want to meet a recruitment company that was helping me develop my career.
Meetings Are A Two-Way Thing
We hear many shocking stories about how poorly both candidates and clients are treated. It still shocks me that people put up with it.
Which leads me onto the fact that meetings are a two way thing. As a candidate, we are interviewing you while at the same time you are interviewing us! Do you want to work with us and trust us in assisting you in your search for a new role.
The recruitment sector is growing as the economy improves and organisations look for professional help to scale their teams.
This means that if you aren’t registered with a recruitment company that provides an exceptional service and has the knowledge and skills to help you with your career; find another one; because we aren’t all the same.
What Next?
Can we help? We have placed and filled over 100,000 temp and permanent assignments over the last 30 years so have a range of techniques, ideas and platforms which could help you. Why not call us on 0113 367 2880 to have a conversation with one of our team. Alternatively drop us an email here or check out our Testimonials and Case Studies.
