Bank to recruiter: We dislike you so much, we're putting up a firewall to block your emails
A bit of bad blood between agencies and HR is nothing new, but tensions are now intensifying as financial institutions do more of their own hiring.
HR professionals at the recent eFinancialCareers roundtable in Melbourne said competition for placement income means recruiters are increasingly "floating" resumes directly to line managers and bypassing HR. In some cases internal teams already have these CVs on file, so recruiters are wasting their own time as well as putting their reputations on the line.
One attendee told a particularly awful tale. "The recruiter rang me about this terrible candidate who I rejected outright. But he then called the line manger and claimed I had told him to put forward the CV. The manager didn't the like the CV either and harassed me about it."
Banks are giving harsh penalties to repeat recruiter offenders. "We are getting a firewall in place to block emails from a particular agency," said one of the delegates, all of whom asked not to be named in this report.
Another added: "I've simply told one recruitment company: 'don't ever call us again under any circumstances'."
Many recruitment consultants fail to understand how to build long-term relationships with HR, according to the roundtable. Their focus is on short-term profit making.
"Our panel agencies aren't delivering good candidates for us. We're doing more direct recruitment, so they aren't putting any emphasis on us," said a representative from a major bank.
Service continuity can also be a problem because consultants have been moving a lot so far this year. When a good recruiter changes agencies, the replacement may not establish the same strong relationship with HR.
As a candidate, have you been caught in an HR v agency battle? Let us know in the comments box below. You can also email your story to apac.editor@efinancialcareers.com.
