Blog

20/04/2021

They don’t really care about me

Just look at LinkedIn – how many candidates are out there waiting for call back about a role, an interview or even a potential offer? How many resumes don’t solicit a basic response? It is pretty soul destroying when you don’t hear back after applying to a role, or even worse, after interviewing.

Why?

The standard recruitment model means that a candidate has two opportunities to be of value to a recruiter. The most obvious is as a placement in their current role; this makes you a highly valued commodity – right up until you are deemed unsuitable – then you are not – instead, you are using up precious recruiter time, while other agencies may be talking to the placement who will get the job.

The second way in which applicants have value is as a potential placement/client for future business, which requires that the recruiter be nice enough to ensure you will work with them again. However,  to appreciate this value, they need to adopt a long-term view, which we all know is not how many recruiters work.        

What to do

Firstly, and sadly – lower your expectations. It is a numbers game unfortunately. Some ads are frivolous, some are unrealistic, and some receive 1000+ responses. Expecting even basic levels of civility can leave applicants disappointed. As a candidate you are not paying for the service, so expect to get what you pay for.

If you are applying to a role and the recruiter thinks they can place you, they will call – that is how they make money. 

If they missed out on calling you or can’t see that you are good, then you probably should not be relying on them to manage you career.  

Final Word

This article is titled the ugly truth – its aim is to help candidates navigate the waters of job seeking, by providing some unvarnished insights – so please don’t shoot the messenger! Bear in mind, there are some great recruiters out there who still do their best (and often miss out on placements as a reward for their thorough and kind approach). We salute those recruiters and hope they continue to flourish in their various niches. 

At Stone, our mission is to make recruitment better – among other ways, by challenging the overall model.

We believe there is a better way for companies to hire – our approach and team values create a more collaborative approach to hiring which in turn makes for stronger processes and reduces the need to engage teams of competing agencies.

Feel free to call us and find out more!