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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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• Well spoken Mr Im not a sales man on £14k a yr; most of the recruitment agencies behave the way you have just described above and the funny thing is that they seem to forget time is of the essence/an important asset to jobseekers.

  chinny 26 Jun 2008

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• It's understandable: if you receive tons of emails, you are bound to classify some as lower priority. People who can't present themselves professionally, can't spell, don't take 2 minutes to write a coherent sentence are likely to end up in that pile.

  stklr 20 May 2008

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• mr i'm not a salesman on 14k a year - i'm in recruitment on a 22k basic and i'm a member of the bar of england and wales - a qualified barrister to you so I reckon I tried pretty damn hard hey, bl**dy jumped up barrow boy and I chose this career over law! how much you earn NEVER was, is NOT and NEVER will be a representation of a person's intelligence or worth as a human being and certainly NEVER EVER a resason to command anyone's respect!!!! what an utter fool you really are! one of my very good friends earns around £20k a year campaigning for a human rights charity. Presumably this is the sort of person you'd step over on your way in to the Light Bar....?!
  Idiot!

  miss i'm in sales on 22k a year but I've got self respect 12 May 2008

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• Unfortunately I have to agree with many of the negative comments. The industry knowledge of most Rec Cons is appalling, and as a result CV spraying tactics happen all too often.
  
  It's simple, if you don't know your 2nd year Corp Fin Analyst from your Nomad, stick to office and secretarial. You give those of us who actually know what we're doing a bad name.

  Equity Research & M&A Head Hunter 08 May 2008

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• Mr Sheldon Paule, it's funny you should talk about candidates who apply for positions they aren't qualified for. I have to be frank here. The reason why candidates apply for jobs they aren't qualified for is because you ask them to apply in the first place. I have received several emails from you personally asking me to apply for roles which require at least 5 years industry experience and despite being a new graduate with less than a year's experience. Thankfully I never applied for any of the roles but it just reeks of desperation from your end I think.
  
  Fact is you don't do your homework so you have absolutely no grounds for accusing candidates of not applying for the right roles when you don't do your job right in the first place.
  
  The email the guy sent was speculative and any decent and intelligent person would respond to the email as such instead of treating it like a full-on job application.

  @Mr Sheldon Paule's comment! 07 May 2008

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• Give me a break...in the immortal words of Eddie in Ab Fab - 'drop the attitude, you only work in a shop you know...'

  Flipper 02 May 2008

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• Genuine Executive Search Consultants are paid to fill positions, not get people jobs. There is a marked difference. They are also not on 20k basics like most of the jumped up settlements clerks and post room boys that have time to post vitriol on this board.
  
  To the guy who moaned that when he got feedback, it wasn't what he wanted to hear -I feel sorry for the recruiter who had to work with you....give him a break, he has got back to you and tried to give you some direction.
  
  What a strange article though, this guy has done the industry no favours...

  Recruitment 02 May 2008

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• Please write a similar article advising headhunters to exercise the same level of professionalism when contacting candidates. I've lost count of the number of emails I've had with terrible spelling and grammar. If you do not proofread your emails to me, you probably won't proofread your emails representing me to a company, and that will leave a terrible impression.
  
  Any recruiter who calls me at work or anyone who sends my CV out without first telling me automatically gets a black mark, and I will never work with those companies again. Not to mention the ones who show zero insight into what I'm actually looking for. Not to mention the ones who try and badger me into using them instead of going through a personal connection that I may have with the company.
  
  I can think of only three out of the ten or so companies I have worked with whom I would recommend. Unfortunately, my experience seems to indicate that the bad impression that many people have of recruiters is justified enough that if I am introduced to a new recruiter, s/he will have to prove to me that s/he is not like that, rather than the other way around.

  A candidate 29 Apr 2008

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• The most striking aspect of my dealings with headhunters over the years is that so many of them have zero product knowledge.  I don't expect great expertise, but how can they sell me to a client when they don't understand my CV or the role they are trying to fill.

  A Pedant 28 Apr 2008

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• Here is my two-cent take on headhunters in general... 19 out 20 are absolutely hopeless
  - The vast majority can't tell the difference between roles in front office / middle office, or sub-fields within IB vs. Sales, Trading, and Research
  - The vast majority tell you they are going to speak to so and so about you, but never bother getting back to you with feedback
  - Don't take the career advice/guidance of headhunters too accurately if you work in a bank, you already have access to  first-hand information regarding career-related issues
  - Precious few are headhunters with real contacts across the banking industry and know what they are talking about ... and hence driving Maseratis

  Not a Big Headhunter Fan Either 28 Apr 2008

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