Recruitment Is A Dirty Word
Let’s be honest - recruitment consultants don’t have a great reputation. And before I write any further one hugely important caveat is to say that not all recruitment consultants are bad - in fact there are some really, really good ones out there; ones I’d genuinely like to represent and who can be proud of what they do.
But they ain’t the majority.
Come on, we've all been there. On the job hunt - getting promised an interview for the world's most amazing position to then get ghosted, or even worse, kept warm in case the another candidate trumps you. Or you’re harassed as a client to the point of frustration or left interviewing people who don’t even understand your industry. And we've been debating this here at Wander - trying to figure out WHY recruitment consultants work this way. Why is job hunting now worse than online dating!?
One obvious answer would be, the pursuit of money. Keeping all the fingers in all the pies and talking utter nonsense to get whatever they can, regardless of the cost to their people - whether that be emotional or financial.
I recently came across an agency, in the engineering space, who placed a number of permanent candidates into a small organisation. After three months of successful placements, once the invoices are paid to the agency - they call the candidates back and poached them away to another organisation - with the suspicion they were splitting the fees between them.
Worst of all, no one was actually shocked "because they are recruitment consultants".
Along with some others out there, we are going to change that - by breaking the cycle of bad practise. But unlike pretty much anyone else, at Wander we’re not driven by profit. Sure, we require profit to grow, it’s important we have it and we also want to enjoy our lives, but it’s simply not at the expense of everything else. We want to do things differently, take a step back and reflect on how things have been done before and we want to do our little bit to help make the world a better place. I know that sounds lofty and it’s still a work in progress but running a business is a privilege and it’s what we do with that privilege that counts. That’s why we’re selective with the type of partner we represent and work with.
We won't bend the truth, we won't climb over anyone at all costs to deliver a fee. We won't chuck random CVs at clients, nor persuade someone entirely unsuitable that this is the job for them and, perhaps most importantly, we won’t make quality service unaffordable.
We exclusively partner with brands and organisations that are purpose-driven and actively making positive changes to the world we live in - socially, environmentally, economically.
Our integrity helps stand us out from the crowd - and that's why we are proud to be Wander.
By Natalie Clark
