Recruiters are not creative

Laurent Brouat August 11, 2009 Job Search 16 Comments

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copypaste

When they recruit someone, they apply a very simple method: if you have worked in the same industry for a competitor of their client or something very similar, you will be selected.

If you have worked for someone else or a different industry, your CV will stay aside.

It is what I call, the “copy/paste” selection…

Same industry, same level, same company.

They only recruit me-too or clones because it is the simplest way to please the client.

When I was myself a recruiter, the candidates I selected were candidates I had to copy/paste from the same industry.

I heard all the time from my clients:

“We need someone from the same industry who has done the same thing for 5 years”

If you have an unusual CV/resume, if you have transferable skills but no direct experience in this industry, if you have holes in your CV, if you have not done the same job for a couple of years, forget the recruitment agencies.

Recruiters are not creative because they have no time to waste with unusual CVs, or different background, they just want the same, they copy and paste.

They want to make money and have a no time to go through a pile of unusual CVs, so they select the same.

It is that simple, and it is another reason not to spend too much time sending your your CV/resume to agencies .

For a recruiter the ideal candidate is: same industry, same position in one of the big company.

They spare time and money if they can find this profile.

If you don’t have this precise profile, choose a most efficient way to find a job: your network and try to develop your reputation.

And yes, recruiters, as CVs, can be boring too!

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16 Responses to “Recruiters are not creative”

  1. Frank Krogstrup Sørensen, Human Selection said:

    Aug 11, 09 at 10:09 pm

    I must say I´m glad that you left the professional recruiting industri because you (or your bosses)obviously never understood the business.

    Professional recruiters recommend always their customers the best candidates, and that is not always candidates from the same industri, same position etc.

  2. Diane said:

    Aug 12, 09 at 2:08 am

    This is so so true. That explains why I have been applying for a job at Turner Broadcasting since 1998 but have received no response. I don’t have a cut & past resume’. Now I understand. Wow what a waste of my time and effort.

    Thanks for the info.

  3. Paul Hood said:

    Aug 12, 09 at 5:37 am

    Good advise, havent used one now I know why!

  4. Heidi said:

    Aug 12, 09 at 6:09 am

    Thanks you for that insightful and painfully true nugget. I won’t waste my time on recruiters as I do have what has been described as a ‘portfolio resume’: 4 countries, 2 industries, 11 years — tons of transferable skills, but nothing that the recruiting agencies care about.

    Thanks & cheers,
    Heidi

  5. Nic Carter said:

    Aug 12, 09 at 9:09 am

    whilst on the whole I would agree with the sentiment, Id perhaps suggest that the title reads: Recruiters arent ALLOWED to be creative. It was a disheartening fact (and one of the main reasons I left the industry after 10 years) that clients were so closed minded to “different” candidaates. But I eventually realised I would never be able to truly influence as a 3rd party, hence going inhouse.

  6. Amjad said:

    Aug 12, 09 at 9:35 am

    Good insite into the recruitment process, which I have not realised inspite of my wife being recruiter.

    Amjad

  7. Copy and Paste Hiring « The Staffing Advisor said:

    Aug 13, 09 at 10:14 pm

    [...] and Paste Hiring Career consultant Laurent Brouat wrote that recruiters mostly copy and paste.  They recruit (copy) a candidate from one company and place (paste) them into another company [...]

  8. Building Pipelines, and Paying It Forward « Recruiting In 3D said:

    Aug 14, 09 at 1:54 pm

    [...] Posted by Pete Radloff on August 14, 2009 I read a tweet that someone sent out yesterday, linked to an article that talked about how recruiters are looking always for the exact match. They want people in almost identical roles, from competitors, etc. In essence they are looking for clones, as the article states. [...]

  9. Duncan Elliott said:

    Aug 18, 09 at 9:40 am

    I agree with Nic Carter, there is very little room for creativity in an industry where (like it or not) copy and paste tactics actually work, in the sense that you get a fee from them. Whether they work in a more general ethical or professional sense is another matter.

    However Frank also makes an interesting point, we all have (or should have) clients that trust us to the degree that if we insist they see a candidate, they will.

  10. Adrian duffy said:

    Aug 18, 09 at 3:34 pm

    Hey guys, you must remember that clients PAY recruitment companies for the BEST possible fit for their company. From a recruiter point of view, we can only make money if we keep to our client requirement, we are not here to change the market but to cater for the existing market conditions. We change as the market changes, we don’t change the market.

    Client will not pay for a candidate they may have to train up as the candidate has been our of the required role for 2 yrs for instance. Lots of people have skills that can suit various industries but these people will also require extra time and effort that most companies don’t want.

    Like anything you choose to pay for, you pay for it because if suit your needs or circumstance. I’m not going to pay for a drink that isn’t finished yet…I want the drink that has been made, fully made.

  11. Peter Rabbit said:

    Aug 24, 09 at 9:52 pm

    I must agree. I have personally experienced two problems with recruiters:

    1. They pigeon-hole people. If you have worked in field/area/technology X, no matter what other qualities or qualifications you display on your CV, they will always take for granted that you must or can only work in X.

    2. Well, in fact the above applies if they actually understand what X is and do not confuse it with something else… Being a technology person, I have experienced in different occassions the lack of knowledge that many recruiters have. They confuse terms and completely misunderstand skills and technologies. They don’t have to be gurus but many of them simply do not have a clue of the area they are recruiting for.

  12. A Job You Love» Blog Archive » Recruiters are not creative but hardworking said:

    Aug 25, 09 at 9:32 am

    [...] I published the article Recruiters are not creative, I got hundreds of views and dozens of comments, and the article was tweeted and tweeted and [...]

  13. Karo said:

    Sep 03, 09 at 8:55 am

    Is surprising that someone is looking at recruiting firms as ‘copy and paste’. In normal business certain, you give to clients what they want, not what you think. You don’t expect a recruiter to force candidates on clients.

    However, there are situations where recruiters influence their clients to accept candidates from a different industry, but this depend on the final acceptance of clients.

    A professional recruiter is one that gives clients the required candidates, not one that just send CVs.

  14. A Job You Love» Blog Archive » Apparently you like controversial articles! said:

    Sep 29, 09 at 8:47 am

    [...] I explained why recruiters were not creative [...]

  15. A Job You Love» Blog Archive » I thank headhunters for boosting my clients mood! said:

    Dec 02, 09 at 12:27 am

    [...] Generally speaking recruitment agents waste people’s time with positions that don’t fit or are inadequate. And sometimes even if you don’t fit in the position or you are not really interested they will try to make you fit. You think it is a waste of time…(I have been harsh on Recruiters lately as you should stop sending CVs to them or explaining that they are not creative) [...]

  16. A Job You Love» Blog Archive » The most controversial articles said:

    Aug 09, 10 at 2:13 pm

    [...] Recruiters are not creative (15 comments) [...]

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