Recruiters in Singapore have to take an exam. Should the same happen in the UK?

8 September 2011

2 minute read

Recruiters in Singapore have to take an exam. Should the same happen in the UK?

If you wish to work as a recruitment professional in Singapore, it is now necessary to take an examination first.

Our Singaporean site touched upon this subject this week, with a blog from an anonymous recruiter bemoaning the tedium of the classes leading up to the exam.

Spending five days studying competition law, immigration law and employment law might not be very exciting, but should recruitment professionals be obliged to engage in something similar in the UK?

As things stand, there is no mandatory qualification for UK (financial services) recruiters, and the industry here is unregulated.

The closest thing the UK has to a regulatory body is the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, a membership organization representing the UK recruitment industry, which includes the Institute of Recruitment Professionals (IRC) and has 5,500 individual members. There's also the Association of Executive Recruiters.

Scott Pendry, policy advisor at the Association of Executive Recruiters, points out that the Institute of Recruitment Professionals runs various examinations and that the government publishes guidance on recruiter conduct. The AER also publishes a code of practice and ousts members who fail to abide by it.

However, examinations and membership are not mandatory and it's not clear how members are policed.

Do you think financial services recruiters in the UK should be obliged to take a qualification in order to operate? And should the industry be regulated? Please leave your comments below.

AUTHORSarah Butcher

Global Editor

ab
abcd
20 September 2011
Very much needed in Sydney market.. All the redneck recruiter must learn how to behave like professional !
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IO
IOR Regional Director
12 September 2011
As a Regional Director of the Institute of Recruiters, our aim is to improve the Industry Standards witihin recruitment and HR, across the globe, one of the main reasons that I joined! As a professional recruiter, I find the continual negative comments about our industry extremely annoying - as others have already said the public believes that the "banking industry", as a whole, is to blame for the world's economic woes, however I work with extremely professional and competent candidates - not all bankers are to blame, anymore than all recruiters should be referred to in such a derogatory manner. We have all had bad experiences from various industry sectors, yet most of us accept that this is life and you have to try a little bit harder to ensure you find someone that you trust to help you with your job search. Let's not forget that candidates do not pay for our servcies, so that enables you to mess us about, not return calls, fail to show up at interviews etc etc, maybe if you did have to pay then you might think a little differently about the service that we provide YOU for nothing!!!
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Ja
Jamie
12 September 2011
We are just opening an office in Singapore at the moment with our staff going through the exam process. I think anything which raises the industry standard is a great thing. Perhaps anyone with 10+ years experience should be exempt.
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27
27 years in the City
9 September 2011
To all the bankers out there (from someone who worked in banking for 20 years and 7 years in recruitment), apart from certain regulated roles you don't have to pass any specific exams to be a banker. i.e. there is no test of competence before you start lending money / securitising mortgages. I remember Fred Goodwin going in front of the Treasury Select Committee and the MPs being amazed he hadn't passed his ACIB. Please stop bleating about recruiters when you should address your own house first. (and yes I do have my ACIB).
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Ti
Time for change
9 September 2011
I am a headhunter and have been calling for some kind of regulation for years. I genuinely believe it would increase the professionalism of our industry especially within the financial markets and improve the level of headhunters, however this does all depend on how in-depth these exams or regulations are. If bankers need an FSA qualification then so should we.
To the "mediator" - I agree that there is a huge amount of recruitment bashing on this site, however, you would probably fall into the camp of the gun slinging recruiter that talks a good game. Talk is cheap my friend, it's time to step up to the plate and help this business grow professionally.
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