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Guest comment: Don’t diss the headhunter

24 April 2008

Rodolphe Mortreuil

Think about how you’re presenting yourself to headhunters and recruiters before complaining about their lack of response, says Rodolphe Mortreuil of MKMC Ltd.

It's true to say that people sometimes have good reason to be unhappy with the way they are treated by recruitment professionals and failure to respond to emails is one of the big gripes.

However, I would like to show the other side of the coin, through an experience that happened to me over the weekend, when I received the following email:

"Hi,

I understand you are an executive search company but was presumably you are looking for candidates to fit profiles as well.

I have just had a final round with [company One] for an associate client advisor position and have a final round with [company Two] and [company Three] coming up ... I just wanted to see if any of your clients had any current requirements for someone like me who is looking for an associate client advisor level where training is provided etc

Kind Regards

[Name removed]

[Mobile phone number and email address removed]"

That’s it.

It may not be the worst email I have received, but it comes close, and this is why:

1) It is much too informal for a piece of business correspondence. How can I take the sender seriously if he/she opens with "Hi" when we don't know each other? Email is not Instant Messaging. I can only decide how a candidate will perform in front of my client on the basis of his attitude and behaviour with me. You have to be as professional and focused with the headhunter as you would be with the firm you are hoping for a contract from.

2) It is not written in proper English. So either the sender doesn't speak English as a native language (in which case that should be mentioned and explained) or he/she doesn't care. That is a question you certainly do not want anyone reading your CV/cover letter to ask him/herself.

3) There is no information whatever in this email concerning what makes the sender a potential candidate. Skills? Education? Experience? Even if you elect not to make your CV available immediately (which, in my opinion, is the right choice), you should at least tell me why I should work with you.

4) The one piece of information that email actually does give me is why I should not work with the sender. He/she already has one offer and is hoping for one to two more in the near future. Yet he wants me to risk my name and reputation to my clients, getting him even more offers, so he can what? Turn them down? Why would I be willing to do that?

Because I do not like the sometimes bad reputation the recruitment industry has – any more than my colleagues out there do – I did send a polite answer to the email. But I am glad I don't receive this sort of message often. I wouldn’t want to answer too many of them.

Rodolphe Mortreuil is founder and managing director of McKinsey Mortreuil Clarke (MKMC) Ltd.

Note from the editor: Sorry if you were one of the many people who left a comment which didn't immediately materialise on this post - we've been having a few issues with our comments system...

Comments (28)

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• Scary times as no one has heard of your firm and you need to resort to posting tat on the eFC pages. I am surprised people actually e mailed you cvs direct considering MKMC sounds very much like it should be selling bathroom accessories.
  Many thanks for the article, very much in the recruitment consultant league and definitely not a head hunter
  
  yours truly

  Another Headhunter 24 Apr 2008

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• As a hiring manager, the worst examples of English I have in my inbox are, without exception, from headhunters trying to place candidates for interview in my team. Real life xamples: "He is now working as a XXXX where is regularly implementing YYYY", "I have interviewed a very string candidate...". And I regret to say this is far from unusual in the emails I get from headhunters, it's not just one or two.
  
  Give me, and the candidates themselves, a break.

  literate quant 24 Apr 2008

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• Rodolphe, I think you've over-reacted. There is nothing wrong with "Hi" it is certainly more appropriate that "Dear X" which is rarely used in email communique. The market is tough for you recruiters at the moment but you've still got to realise that making a candidate's potential employer pay a headhunters fee reduces the candidates chances of getting hired so you have to add-value to the process. Not defending his writing style but perhaps the guy sending you the email is very good. Either way, can you afford not to find out? The candidate has strong interest from other clients (so is clearly competitive) and your client might need someone that has the skills of the candidate. He might also perform very well in an interview.
  
  As a hirer, I am always interested to hear about candidates that might "fit" within my organisation and I would hope that any search firm I  use would examine candidates more thoroughly. Time to add-value....

  Jake 24 Apr 2008

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• This article sums up the recruitment industry perfectly.
  
  Stuck-up, uneducated, baffoons waffling on about how they are treated by clients. Perhaps if they treated the jobhunters with some respect, the jobhunters would send them more than the odd, badly-worded email asking what was available or if they had any feedback on an application/interview.
  
  When I was using agencies a few months back, I found the sheer attitude and agression of some consultants was the sad, but true, reflection of why they often had no roles available and no-one to fill them with.
  
  How about treating people who are leaving/looking for 40k, 50k, or 100k jobs with some respect... At the end of the day, youre the one on a 20k basic, maybe you should have tried harder.

  Mr Im not a salesman on £14k a year 24 Apr 2008

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• The attitude of recruiters' is counter cyclical. You can't get off the phone when you're not looking and things are good. Then when there are more applicants than jobs they show their true nature.
  
  What do you need to be a recruiter again?.. hmm, similar qualifications to that of an estate agent or a used car sales man. Must master the art of bull.

  Anonymous 24 Apr 2008

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• woooahhh - it was just a "yes" or "no" type - questioned email.  Big deal.  No damage done, apart from the candidate uncovering some positions that are open still (but that's to your benefit).
  This doesn't come close to the many problems we have with headhunters, problems that can put a guy in a seriously bad position (e.g. HH CV spraying, badly researched roles etc etc )

  anon 24 Apr 2008

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• I see nothing wrong with "Hi", it's modern english. Next you'll be asking people to write you  letters... Quil pen anyone?

  Anon 24 Apr 2008

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• Are you sure the problem isn't with you, rather than the applicants?
  
  1) He didn't start the email as formally as others might. Still, your overblown reaction to that says more about you than it does about him. How he addresses a headhunter says nothing about how he would interact directly with a potential employer.
  
  2) The email is clear and to the point. Even though the English isn't perfect, he may well speak five other languages too.
  
  3) Perhaps he wanted to check whether you are the right headhunter for the job before wasting his time writing out all his qualifications and experience (without submitting the CV right off the bat).
  
  4)  Your reading comprehension needs work.  The sender indicated that he is interviewing with a few firms, and just finished a final round interview with one of them.  He did not say he had an offer from any.
  
  Please get over yourself.  That act alone would at least be one very small step forward for the reputation of the recruitment industry.

  Joe 24 Apr 2008

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• I find it amusing that an individual with such a ridiculous bio on his website can write what he has above, a real head-hunter should be heard but not be seen to glorify themselves, an embarrassment to our profession  - SPECIALLY LOVE THE QUOTE "He typically gets involved with more complex projects such as team moves and very senior appointments."£ ???????????????????????????????

  Joe Cole 24 Apr 2008

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• Rodoplhe - You should call him. Someone else already has him out on final round interviews. The best people I deal with send direct and lazy e-mails. This is an enquiry, not a formal job application...

  Headhunter 24 Apr 2008

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