Press Coverage
Recruiters branded pushy and dishonest
Interviewer - 2001-04-19
A survey of Britain's FTSE 100 companies has painted a poor picture of the recruitment industry, with consultants branded "pushy", "pestering" and "dishonest".
The survey, commissioned by recruitment to recruitment company Perriam & Everett, is sure to stoke the debate regarding the professionalism of an industry that has tried hard to improve its image.
Nearly half of the survey's respondents said that they were annoyed by constant, unsolicited phone calls from recruiters and many were irritated by receiving speculative scattergun CVs.
Over ten per cent said that recruiters did not come up with the goods when needed and a third said that consultants represented good value for money only some of the time. A quarter found that recruiters did not provide a service worthy of their fee.
Co-founder of the company Zena Everett said: "People do not like constant calling to try and win business but then we found agencies did not respond to clients once they had won the business."
She added that some recruitment agencies sell people like second hand cars and that many could go to the wall if the economy declines and clients tighten their personnel budgets.
However, industry body, The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), jumped to the sector's defence.
External relations director Marcia Roberts said: "We wouldn't expect REC members to be dishonest and quite clearly our code of practice would mean that if they behaved in that fashion then we would investigate and take action. I would take exception with those comments and we would seek evidence to back that up."
She added: "In terms of being pushy, I think that is very much a matter of style. Clearly recruitment consultants are in sales and what's pushy in one environment is normal accepted practice in another."
Another consultant said: "If we're so pushy and costly and dishonest perhaps the companies shouldn't use an agency to recruit staff. Oh, sorry, wait a minute. They've tried that and it didn't work."
