Trust

Events this week have made me reflect on the relationship of trust between a recruiter and jobseeker.

When I started in recruitment my manager made it clear to me that I was not able to tell a jobseeker the name of the company we were recruiting for as it would be easy for them to then just contact the company directly.  I always felt pretty uncomfortable – and a little ridiculous – following this policy and would tell somebody, for example, that the recruiting organisation was a ‘large bank near Liverpool Street’.

Forward-wind to 2011 and I am always 100% transparent about the name of the recruiting organisation.  Frankly, it is nonsense not to be as it is just as important to talk about cultural fit with any jobseeker before they commit to spending time attending an interview.  I certainly wouldn’t want a recruiter to represent me at an unknown organisation.

This week I spoke to a jobseeker about a new opportunity at company ‘x’.  The jobseeker knew somebody who worked at ‘company x’ but he wasn’t aware that they were recruiting at this time.  I then sent the jobseeker a full job description ahead of our discussion about the role and the next day they emailed to inform me that they had been contacted by ‘company x’ and invited to interview.  Ok, this could just be coincidence but I have my doubts.

I spend a lot of my time giving free advice on all aspects of recruitment in my sectors and am happy to do so as this builds long-term relationships.  However, as a recruiter the situation described above is just plain annoying as we make our living by finding people jobs.   At least in this particular scenario it isn’t as bad as the other two cases I have experienced in my recruitment career  where the jobseeker had no knowledge of the recruiting company and just sent them their CV after speaking to me!

The relationship between recruiter and some jobseekers is often a loose and transient one as not every jobseeker is interested in building a relationship with the recruiter.  It can be seen by some like a trip to a car showroom where the buyer just wants to buy a car and not become godfather to the children of the car salesperson!  Of course, I understand this view but even in the short-term the relationship can only work with trust on both sides.

Moving on.....

As readers of this blog will know I have supported Leeds United all my life.  This week was the eleventh anniversary of the tragic deaths of two Leeds supporters, Chris Loftus and Kevin Speight, who were stabbed in Turkey on 5 April 2000 ahead of the UEFA Cup semi-final against Galatasaray.  The fact it is the anniversary makes me even more bewildered to hear from my friends at the Millwall game today that some home supporters were waving Turkish flags.  Unbelievable.