120 Days as an Agency Recruiter, Part 2

Howdy! I am getting nervous twitches as I write this. 120 days isn't a long time, but in agency recruiting, it's like 4 years.

The first article I wrote was mostly about the shocking reality of clients being discriminatory (just some of the ones I worked with, not all companies), and being dismissive to recruiters in general.

This part two is going to reveal some of the things agency recruiters are expected to do. *Twitch*

Numbers, Numbers, Numbers! Sales is definitely a numbers game, so it makes sense that the more people you talk to, the more people will be placed. But what I loathe about agency recruiting is having to deal with quantity over quality. I believe this only adds to the negative perception of recruiters.

Step 1. Source hundreds of people from Monster, internal database, and LinkedIn (or wherever).

Step 2. Send them all the same email. (You're short on time, just do it.)

Step 3. Call those who write back confirming they are qualified and interested. (So. Many. Interesting things can happen here.)

Step 4. Call those who haven't written back, but match your criteria very closely. (So many hilarious and dark things can happen here too.)

Step 5. Talk to dozens of people by phone, and get them invested. Make them sign some weird candidate agreement thing, eliminating half the people who were on the fence about working with you.

Step 6. Submit 2 to 5 of the dozens of people you spoke to, to your client. Wait an uncomfortable amount of time-- with several prompts in between--to hear back from your client. Lose half the people who were qualified in the waiting process, because they moved on to other opportunities or lost their faith in you.

Step 7. Disappoint everyone still left hanging in the balance. Your client wasn't interested in any of the above.

OR, make one or two people happy by moving forward to an interview. (Small Victory!)

Recap: Spread the word to hundreds, talk to dozens, (listening to life stories, struggles, hopes and dreams). Offer immediate opportunity to one or two. Try not to leave the other dozens of people hanging in disappointment. Disappoint all or 99%. Rinse, repeat for the other 80 open positions. This doesn't sound so bad, right?

Metrics: Get On, or Get Out! During my time as an agency recruiter, I spoke to many recruiters at other agencies. Typically, this is a daily break down that these recruiters are expected to meet:

Phone calls: 25 to 150 (mine was not absurd, but 100+ a day--come on!) *This means you are constantly calling people just to record a conversation, but not allowing them more than 5 minutes on the phone with you, so it is oftentimes not a productive or meaningful conversation.*

Interviews/Screening: 2-10 (in person, much of the time) *Screening just for the sake of screening can turn out to be productive, though it may be months down the road.

Submissions: 4-15 (this means sending resumes to clients) *Clients get annoyed when we submit people "just in case". Can't say I blame them.

New Client Outreach (full desk recruiters): 1 to 10 per day *This irked me the most. I got paid the same regardless of the new clients I brought on board. Hire a Business Development person, or pay more.

Manager feedback like this is not uncommon:

"I see you submitted 5 quality people today and set up 3 interviews. But you fell very short on your phone calls. You need to do more."

"You made a placement today? Why didn't you make three?"

"The candidate said they weren't interested in the job offer? Convince them otherwise."

"The client doesn't like the candidate? Convince them otherwise."

Other horrendous things that are common:

• Clients offer an in-person interview to one of your candidates. You arrange it. Client changes mind and refuses to give reason.
• Candidate commits to interview. Disappears forever.
• Agency boss bargains away your commission to please client.
• You get told to "eff yourself" regularly by mad candidates.

Some good things that aren't common:

• You can change a person's life every now and then, by offering them a job. This happens much less than all the other stuff, but is a wonderful feeling.
• You make a positive impression on a candidate, even when you don't place them. To do this, you oftentimes have to break your company rules.

On the whole, I am incredibly grateful to have gone through this insane experience of being an agency recruiter. I have not ever felt more disrespected and disappointed-in, in my career, which I feel is important for setting my humanity boundaries. This experience has indeed taught me things I would never have learned just as a mere human career coach.

But to all the AMAZING agency recruiters out there who are placating their bosses requests for "more", while maintaining their ethical brand, KUDOS to you! This is a tough job!

I don't have a magical solution to fix this mess, but I can rest easy at night for staying true to myself.