Articles From the Team

Greed, Ignorance and Recruitment Consultants

I’m always happy to take a call. Many is the Saturday morning when PPI cold callers and Marketing Lifestyle Survey screeners actually hang up on me as I ask them about their plans for the rest of weekend and what they had for dinner last night.

Yesterday, I took a call from a fellow recruiter who wasn’t a Rec to Rec but who wanted to talk to me about a candidate. Bit odd, but as I say, such is my incessant and voracious appetite for talent that I will talk to anyone! The call was put through to me – let’s call the recruiter in question Louise from Summit. She made her pitch – it wasn’t awful, but she was telling me about a Residential Conveyancer. It was evident from what she didn’t say (PQE, volumes handled, case management systems mastered, type of work done) that Louise didn’t really know what she was talking about.

I then clarified: was this candidate looking for a role in recruitment? No, they wanted a role in Residential Conveyancing. Now, I know some would say that at this point I should have requested the CV so we could get the candidate, but that would be dishonest and unethical – it’s just not a game I want to play. I politely pointed out to Louise that she had just pitched her Residential Conveyancer to someone at a recruitment consultancy, not a Law firm, and what’s more, we, in this instance, would be a competitor.

Louise apologised, embarrassedly, and explained that she didn’t really know the sector and I let her get on to phone other recruitment consultancies/florists/Pilates Centres.

I have two points to make from this experience:

Firstly, Candidates – use an expert when making a move. Do your research and select a recruiter who is a specialist in your area of Law. At BCL Legal, our Consultants specialise in relatively narrow areas of Law and across specific geographies. As such, they know the decision makers, the trends, the firms with specific vacancies and the firms which are open to receiving CVs. They will be able to help you quickly and efficiently. They are trusted by clients. They will not hawk your details to the likes of me!!!

Secondly, recruiters. Beware of Bright Shiny Things! I don’t know where Louise’s expertise lies but it clearly wasn’t in Legal recruitment. However, somehow she happened upon a Residential Conveyancer and thought “I can make a fee here” and off she went, aimlessly blundering around the market like a drunk at closing time. She was distracted by the Bright Shiny Thing of this candidate – don’t, develop your niche, build expertise, don’t stray from the path.

Furthermore, recruiters, don’t be greedy! If you can’t help a client or a candidate as their needs or experience fall out of your area of expertise, do the right thing and refer them to someone who can and who has knowledge of their industry or profession. Just say no! Look beyond the short term – help clients and candidates by referring them on and focus on building your own niche.

One of the reasons we are successful at BCL legal is that our Consultants are experts in their fields and we have a database which allows them to identify the right clients for any given candidate. If you’d like a career with a recruitment consultancy that does things right, please drop me a line at robbarklamb@bcllegal.com or call me on 07341 561962.