who send over CVs quickly before their competition does . Picture the scenario ; recruiter one will spend time contacting a candidate , explaining the role , the employer ’ s background , assessing them and ensuring they are keen to apply . Recruiter two simply finds some CVs on a website or in their CRM and submits them immediately . Recruiter two will ‘ claim ’ that candidate because they submitted the CV first , despite recruiter one taking an ethical and robust approach . This makes contingency recruitment a far more level playing field , as you can guarantee all applicants know why they ’ ve been submitted and by whom .

5 . Make it illegal for recruitment agencies to submit a candidate ’ s CV without prior written email agreement My rules would state that the recruiter must have a documented agreement stating the candidate is happy for the recruiter to represent them on that opportunity . This stops over-zealous recruiters falsely claiming a candidate and potentially wasting everyone ’ s time , by putting forward people who aren ’ t available or interested in a role . It also stops the dreadful tactic of ‘ phishing ’ whereby a recruiter will spam a CV to a database , and should anyone come back , the recruiter then contacts the CV owner to say , “ we have a great opportunity for you ”.

6 . Three-month 100 % rebate should be standard for all recruiters If a recruiter doesn ’ t provide a three-month 100 % rebate , they either don ’ t trust themselves , or the hiring company hasn ’ t provided enough information to trust their own decision making . Recruiters must take responsibility for their work . They might say “ but the final hire is not our

decision , it ’ s the client ’ s ,” but the recruiter should only put forward the candidates they think match the company ’ s requirements based on the information they ’ ve gleaned . I work retained , so I provide a six-month 100 % rebate because I ’ m confident in my Fitability ® approach and the hire is a team effort , so I should take some of the responsibility .

Recruitment used to be a respected management skill , not just a ‘ side of the desk ’ job that anyone can do alongside their usual role , and external recruiters used to be seen as a trusted aide , a confidant and consultant rather than the CV shifters a lot have now become . Recruitment

“ Recruitment isn ’ t hard , but it ’ s easy to get wrong . We all need to step up to take responsibility to make things better all round .”

isn ’ t hard , but it ’ s easy to get wrong . We all need to step up to take responsibility to make things better all round .

According to PWC , 92 % of candidates report having a bad experience while job hunting ; the most common complaints are of recruiters and companies who they speak to and never hear from again and of employers that drag out the recruiting process . Saying that , the recruitment sector in the UK has revenues of over £ 40bn , so it ’ s not going away .

Recruitment isn ’ t broken , it just needs a few tweaks , so who ’ s with me ? CN