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Engineering Recruiters - friend or foe
Part 1 by Paula Beezhold, 15 December 2009
Behind every successful candidate - A dedicated consultant.
Successful recruitment is a two-way process and good communication is vital for this process to function optimally. As recruitment consultants serving the engineering profession, JSM Appointments is in the ideal position to identify the needs of both clients and candidates, and voice concerns and advice from both parties.
“We want to focus on the needs of our clients and applicants as it relates to the recruitment industry,” says Director of JSM Appointments, Sonja Masters. “We thus selected a number of clients and candidates from our skills network to participate in a JSM Appointments questionnaire concerning their experience in dealing with external recruitment consultants.”
Masters points out that individuals in the medical, legal and accounting professions seldom accept the poor treatment that engineers seem to be subjected to in the recruitment industry, and that the status quo in this regard need to be questioned.
Gordon Williamson, Operations Manager on the Gorgon LNG project in Chevron, says that one way of raising the level in engineering recruitment would be to look at the guidelines set out by the professional engineering bodies. “Professional Engineering bodies define what a professional is, many through government legislation. Use those guidelines. One does not see Legal Professional positions advertised with court room cleaners – neither should engineering positions,” he explains.
“More control of the industry should be considered to eliminate 'fly by night' companies – ideally through a professional body similar to Engineers Australia with membership criteria,” suggests Riaan Oosthuizen, Senior Engineer, Network Performance, at Western Power.
There is also the viewpoint that professionalism necessitates specialisation. Says Western Power's Resourcing Team Leader, Workforce Capability, Emma Hibbs: “I believe individual recruiters should specialise in one or two specific skills which would allow them to truly understand their market and more easily identify and professionally represent suitably qualified and experienced candidates.” She says the majority of recruiters tend to diversify too much in order to obtain a bigger portion of the pie, generally resulting in a diluted, ineffective and a reactive ability to manage a qualified talent pool.
Others highlight the fact that in the long term it is the HR section which decides which agencies to use, and that it will be wise for recruitment consultants to focus on building strong relationships with HR departments. To avoid missing out on a considerable portion of potential business, recruitment agents need to follow the correct procedures as set out by the HR departments, and not try to bypass HR, as they are often ill-advised.
In an ideal world
How well does the engineering recruitment industry score in terms of translating expectations into practice? According to Faye Milner, HR Manager of Lycopodium Minerals, quite good. “I expect honesty and integrity from recruitment suppliers. Recruitment efforts should be focussed on sourcing the right person for the right job, not about getting the highest commission. When high commissions are involved, the industry becomes tainted – we avoid recruitment suppliers that send through anyone in the hope of making a quick buck. The majority of the suppliers we contract have a good database of suitable candidates and they are able to have a level of contact with candidates that we are unable to attain internally”
Hibbs agrees that it's a simple recipe of working within the process, building genuine relationships with HR and sharing market intelligence to identify and support strategic resourcing initiatives. “My experience in dealing with external recruitment suppliers has been pretty mixed,” she says. “It's a tough job and the ones that do it well are able to see the bigger picture and work with HR teams to develop relationships and identify long-term partnerships that are mutually beneficial to both parties.”
Candidates often feel ignored or undervalued. One candidate shares how he submitted his CV to more than five recruitment agents – only one replied, explaining his shortcomings. All the others simply ignored him. Candidates want honesty, quick response time, follow-up communication and a detailed explanation of the recruitment process.
“As a potential employee I prefer to be handled by one person throughout the entire process,” comments Williamson. “This is a common failing of large company recruitment agencies where you are handled by so many different people in the HR department that you cannot possibly remember who to deal with for any specific requirement. As an employer I expect correctly screened candidates for the position, not a list of names.”
Other expectations from industry include positive representation of the company and the candidate, meeting the needs of both the candidate and the client, not just on placement, but over time – thus maintaining a consistency of service and not just committing to a 'once-off' scenario. Recruitment suppliers also need to be able to add to a company's search capabilities, access a hidden pool of applicants and present candidates close to the mark.
“Suppliers often don't fully understand the requirements of the organisation and therefore cannot make an informed match of candidate and job,” says Oosthuizen. “There needs to be proper pre-evaluation and screening to prevent wasting time with candidates who don't fit the profile or who are not eligible (such as VISA requirements, etc).”
The questionnaire furthermore required of candidates to indicate what attracts them to a specific job; and of clients as to the advice they have for prospective candidates to better their chance for successful placement. Part two discusses the answers and lists some of the most salient points that transpired.
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