...in thinking that recruitment consultants

[TheUsefulSuspect]

are all twats?

Got to be the most pathetic useless, unhelpful cretins to walk the face of the earth?

Oh, but the consultant should be kind enough and professional enough to let you down gently (after all, you might be a client one day!), and should at least suggest other routes to finding work.

If they did none of the above, then yanbu!

There are only 2 of us and we can't afford to pay ourselves in this economic climate!

Are you in the Legal field?

When I was employed pre-DC my basic salary was high (due to position) but I still did the very best for client and candidate. We used to give talks to colleges and advise students, all of which wouldn't make us any money in the short term.

Unfortunately there are a lot of cowboys and they do give us a bad name, but we are not all like that (and cretin is an awful name to use!), you may be better trying to find your own role. A lot of firms have cut their recruitment budget and don't want to pay agency fees (hence me not earning any bloody money!).

I had a nasty experience with a recruitment consultant years ago and haven't used one since.

I was offered a job and at the same time was offered an internal promotion (which I wasn't expecting and I hadn't used the job offer as leverage). When I told the rc I wasn't going to take the job she started screaming down the phone that I would never get another job in the industry again. I was shocked as she was from a very well respected agency.

So, if your experience was anything like mine, no YANBU!

I have met some lovely RC in my line of work, so i wouldnt say they are all the same

I have meet some awful ones too, i turned down a job offer once because the RC was so awful and i didnt want him to make commission off me taking the job, he was very pissed off

I used to be a recruitment consultant and it was the most horrible job I have ever done. I loved helping people but hated being let down by candidates time and time again and despereately trying to pick up the pieces with the angry clients. You definitely need to be a certain kind of person for that job.

So... YANBU, but it is awful people with no work ethic who make RCs like that.

i posted the 2nd highest monthly billings in the entire 10yr history of the company. I announced i was pregnant, and they then started a campaign to fire me.

I was 6m pg when they finally gave me the shove. I threatened court, they paid me off. Hateful people did exact same thing a year later with a good friend of mine there. Both of us were ex-industry, recruiting from our former creative profession.

I did it for a change to the ego-fuelled mania and childish players in my previous life, i wanted to use my experience to help people get their dream job in that coveted industry.

The placing i was most proud of, was finding a 60yo man a job at twice the salary he thought he was worth. He bought me a lovely lunch to say thanks!

Imho, a good recruiter takes the time to see what experience the candidate has, and looks for ways to best use it. Finds out what the candidate enjoys about what they do, and looks for the next logical job to push and challenge, without putting them in somewhere they'll not cope. I teach them how to pitch to me, and how to interview. I still have ex candidates as friends, not one ex-employee of my former workplace would have the time of day for the team there....

Er, YABVU. What sample size are you using to generalise here?

My little brother is a recruitment consultant, and he's lovely! So, unless you mean all recruitment consultant except him, then YABU!!

groundhogs, they were vile to you and your friend

Your description of a good RC sounds lovely, but I suspect not likely in the current recruitment market where there is a glut of candidates chasing each job.

I used to be a RC for a RConsultancy on Sloane Street. I'd tend to ignore the trustfundie Arabellas (who could basically get a job anywhere if they could be arsed) and take great pleasure in placing 'hard to place' people. It wasnt at all 'salesy' and I loved it.

I worked for a company where they called all the women "Doris" and I was offered half a grand on my salary for the month if I snogged my female colleague and let them all watch.

I went on to be a teacher and had to laugh a bit when I was asked at a teaching interview whether I thought I would cope with the ribbing that teachers can experience "having worked in such a professional environment". None of the kids I taught were anywhere near as cretinous or brutal as the people I worked for in recruitment!

There was a bit of a downturn back then when I was working, so we had tons of candidates...

I'd see so many, but as long as you are honest, and help those that aren't ready to get into the business, they will not feel upset, and will actually feel inspired.

Agreed I did used to meet total prats too, but I'd be polite and tell them honestly that they would be unlikely to get into the industry and why. don't think I upset anyone

I averaged 3years per job, with a couple of downturn redundancies buggering up the average tbh. The nest of vipers company I was working for averaged a turnover of 8 people a year... and there was only 10 of us... they'd hire and fire. Hateful hateful people.

I only wish that I'd had the guts to see it through and take it all the way to court, but you have to self fund unfair dismissal/sex descrimination, and there is always a chance you could lose.. and I'd put nothing past those bitches.. At 6m pg, i just couldn't risk it.... Gah!

YABU
I was a RC for 8 years, and it was awful. More so towards the end, just as we went into recession. Too competitive, not enough work to go round to the 30 or so agencies within my specialism, candidates desperate (and had to field calls from them all day, leading to not enough time to actually win new business), and clients being arseholes when we went to pitch for business / made a marketing call to them.

For most RC's, it's a nightmare to be pulled back and forth by the client shouting at you if there aren't enough candidates, candidates shouting at you because you haven't put them forward for roles (because there aren't any), and your boss shouting at you for not billing enough each month.

My target was £25 - £30k per month, and I can tell you, OP, it was awful to go home each day and cry because I had no idea how to bill that amount.
I would like to think I alwaysworked with integrity and treated candidates well, but I accept that there are shoddy consultants out there. Same as in any profession though, so YABU.

Mishy I once had one scream down the phone at me that I'd "never work in London again" after I objected to him trying to send me for a totally inappropriate, underpaid role.

He was right of course, I never have worked in London (or the UK) since (11 years ago) and the role I took rather than attend his crappy interview paid double what his role did...

I'm in a very specialised area work-wise and I do think it's somewhat "cretinous" of recruitment consultants who are unable to spell the specific languages/skills correctly! Oh... and the fact that an RC doesn't seem to comprehend that as a software specialist I don't actually need to write "can use windows" on my CV!

groundhogs Your story is lovely and awful at the same time!

There are RC with integrity and intelligence.

I was one and my approbation was when people called me thanking me for finding them the best job of their career and changing their lives. I was given gifts, flowers and kept in touch with my candidates to this day.

I used to interview prep and give my candidates confidence and build up their self esteem. I loved my job.

Please don't tar everyone with the same brush that is ridiculous, in any field.

YABU but only because you are generalising. There are enough cowboys and unscrupulous, nasty rec cons out there to give us all a bad name! On the flip side I have been in the industry for 12 years now and have worked with some lovely people who do care about delivering a good service. I now work as a freelance, commission only consultant and if I treated people as some people here have been treated I would very soon have no work!

My husband used to be a recruitment consultant (and he was very very good) so I am perhaps biased. There is no doubt there are some shockers out there (as with any profession) but I have been placed 3 times by the same agency (twice by the same person) over the years and each job was a step in absolutely the right direction for me towards where I am now, which is 5 months off qualifying as a solicitor (found the TC myself as no law firm pays agencies to find trainees, they just don't need to). So I have a lot of time for them in general and that agency in particular.

During the boom years RC was often money for old rope - round this way a lot of agencies have closed down because they couldn't cut the mustard in the lean times.

What you need to remember unfortunately is that you are not their client. The firm doing the recruiting is. You are the product they are trying to sell and if they can't sell you, they'll sell someone else. It's nice if they give you some pointers about interview technique, CV etc but in the current market there is no need for them to do so whatsoever.

I was between jobs last year so got a job as a RC for 2 months and I loathed it more than anything else I have ever done, and that incudes cleaning loos and working in a knicker factory sewing bows onto M&S undies.

I am an engineer and buyer by profession - so utterly not used to cold calling. I used to be staggered at how rude people were.

And it was such a cutthroat business with a huge degree of pressure. The basic commission was ridiculously low and the expectation was that you would have to bill thousands a month. And I started in Jan 2009 so teh economic climate meant that there were no jobs.

As soon as I saw a way to get back into engineering I jumped at the chance.

My SIL is a branch manager for a well known recruitment brand, and she is great so not ALL RCs are cows. The co she works for
are always in the top 10 of Sunday Times 100 best companies to work for. And they are brutal - real heavy pressure and treat their staff as disposable commodities. She has worked in recruitment for 20 years, has always loved it and has earnt a fortune, as she is very good at her job, however she is looking to get out of the business as she truly believes that the business model for RC has changed, and companies are viewing them as a unnecessary expense as they can recruit direct via the internet.

To be honest I would much rather apply for jobs direct to the company than via a RC after a hideous experience a couple of months ago where I turned down a job (the company I was already at counter-offered with a huge raise) and a RC screamed down the phone at me and called me a bitch. Everytime I see the company she represented at the top of the MN screen I scoff - how can such a reputavble company empliy staff who behave in that way.

Some of the comments on here are staggering. Vermin, cretins Do you judge every profession by a bad experience? I think RC can't win sometimes because they are primarily dealing with people's egos.

When my candidates told me they were not going to take the job I would wish them all the very best and move on. No point in placing someone somewhere where they would not stay and be fulfilled. People used to mess me around all the time it was just part of the job I didn't take it personally.

I had a wonderful relationship with my clients and candidates. My job was not cut-throat - we were respectful. Maybe that's why I was so successful and made so much money. Yes I did hear of some horror stories but IN ANY PROFESSION shit happens. What about stockbrokers or solicitors, secretaries? Do you feel the same way about them?

YABU to say they are all like that - obviously some people have had terrible experiences with them but I've found nearly every job I've had through agencies and there are two agencies, at least, where I have very good relationships with the consultants and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them (actually, I think one of them is the place you used to work at, victoriascrumptious!)

I hate them (am in IT) and my experience of them is they don't have a clue about the industry and will send you for jobs for which you have no experience (where on my CV does the word UNIX appear?), and I have had them patronise me ('you will turn up on time wont you? - I am a professional!), try to force me to take a job by blatantly lying and I have had two agencies fight over me for the same job!!

I am a RC and think YABVU.

There are some crap recruiters out there and indeed some useless recruitment consultancies. However, there are also lots of good recruiters and well respected companies to work for.

As for the working for no basic salary thing, I don't know anyone who does or has ever done that, unless they are running own business. I (and all my colleagues) are paid very well and our CEO emphasises the consultancy element of our role - it's about working with our clients and candidates and communication is key. Not just sending CVs, bashing the phones and hoping for the best!

i was headhunted a lot by rcs throughout my career in the City. i have to say that in the early days, they seemed OK. they would spend quite a lot of money on wining and dining me and wanted to know about me as a person. later on, a rather obnoxious type emerged - in it for the money more than anything else, ruthless sales-types (i include my cousin in this category who is a manager at a big London agency and would approach family members at weddings asking them about their jobs and whether he could 'sign them up').
the lowest point came when i met a young, sassy blonde girl about a position and she really talked me up and gave me a lot of hope (she had headhunted me and offered me a 100% salary increase even though i had been quite happy in my position). a few days later (on a Sunday), i was in Pizza Express in Chelsea and by pure coincidence, she was sat at a nearby table with a colleague talking about candidates. she used my name (not a common one so def me) and said something derogatory along the lines of: 'she has a brilliant CV but is far too modest and unwilling to hard sell herself'. I felt like chucking a dough ball across at her

i would add that i have dealt with pretty much all the big agencies in finance and there is nothing morally superior about their approach. infact, they use the dirtiest tactics 'can you tell us the names of five of your colleagues to be entered into a prize draw?' followed by cold calling.