Recruitment Repute

I was privy to a phone call recently where a recruiter was speaking with a sales manager wishing to hire. Theirs was a fresh relationship.

A candidate was accepted for interview and the logistics were being confirmed.

The recruitment agent then said;

Can I take it that if it goes well you’ll be offering them the position?

The sales manager groaned.

You know I had to ask that, right…

Continued the recruiter guy.

Well, no. You didn’t have to ask that. Not at all.

It’s typical of many a rep. What you think is a proper question, because it seems all so salesy-closey, in reality stinks.

Closed questions are fine in the right situation. This is not one of them.

And why is it all about the ‘seller’? Who cares what “I take”?

And what about the overall process? What about that which means something to the ‘buyer’?

What happens should you like the candidate?

This would be a better question. But really, having this conversation misses the point. The recruiter guy didn’t delve into anything remotely approaching how to best fit in with what was being searched out, and so also offered up nothing on why the candidate could be a winner.

Fishing in barren waters. No wonder their industry gets such bad press.