An Experience with an Unscrupulous Recruitment Firm

As in many other countries, the recruitment market in Singapore is highly competitive. Facing such fierce competition, some recruitment companies would resort to unscrupulous tactics for self interests, with total disregard for the employers and the candidates.

My experience with an unscrupulous recruitment company last week was really an eye opener. I was searching for an Accountant and called up a candidate for an interview with me. In the current economical downturn, the candidate was absolutely delighted to hear from me. He was enthusiastic and agreed to come to my office for an interview.

During our dialogue, he told me frankly that another recruitment firm had contacted him for a similar role. Since he was coming to see me, he would inform them to hang on.

The candidate turned up punctually for his interview. After the lengthy and thorough interview, I immediately drafted the recommendation report and submitted it to the client on the same day.

The next day, imagine my shock and frustration when I received an email from the client informing me that the same candidate had been referred to them by another firm.

The candidate was equally frustrated and upset when I told him about the situation. It was apparent that the other firm had emailed the candidate’s CV to the client to “lock” him in though instructed by the candidate to “hang on”; when they learned that he was coming to my office to interview for a similar role.

Initially, the other firm denied that the candidate had given them instruction to hang on. After much insistence from the candidate, they then finally relented and agreed to “withdraw” his CV.

In the Singapore recruitment market, due to the highly competitive nature, many unscrupulous recruitment firms resort to resume-dumping to their clients, in order to be the first company to lodge the candidates’ CVs with the clients. Such firms will cut corners, work for their self-interests and totally disregard the interests of the clients and candidates. The clients will typically pay the recruitment firm that sends in the CVs first. This penalized those recruitment firms that go through the tedious task of interviewing, assessing the candidates and drafting proper recommendation reports. In many cases, the unscrupulous firms would have sent in the CVs by the time the recommendation reports reached the client.

Ironically, the clients typically consider the recruitment firms that send in the CV first as the representatives for the candidates. Such practice has indirectly encouraged some unscrupulous recruitment firms to cut corners and resort to resume-dumping to lock in the candidates. That is very frustrating to the recruitment firms that have put in the quality efforts to meet, interview, assess the candidate and draft detailed and proper recommendation reports.

Hunting for a job in a recession

“You are retrenched!” That is a much dreaded verdict few would want to hear, especially during the current economical turmoil.

As the economy grinds to a halt, job seekers are hit with double whammy. First, the number of available jobs is shrinking at a frightening rate. Second, the number of job seekers is ballooning as more and more workers are being retrenched. The job market gets significantly more competitive as a result.

What can you do to secure a job in such a situation? It is going to be real tough though it is not impossible if you approach the unenviable task in a logical and rational manner.

Rather than panicking and worrying, it is more prudent to sit back and look at the situation from a totally different angle. That way, you can position yourself more favorably and create for yourself certain competitive advantages.

Understand what employers want
Start by understanding what employers want and ask if you are the best candidate to fulfill them. If you are the best candidate, obviously the employers would like to have you. If you are not, then you should work hard to become THE best candidate. Look at the big picture and understand how you can help your future employers succeed.

Stay focused
You have to stay focused on the type of role that you are applying for. As a headhunter, I see the common mistake that many job seekers make. They apply for any positions that are available. That would not work as their skill set is never going to be suitable for all positions and actually works against them. It shows that they are desperate and are not sure of what they want.

Look at different industries
Where your skills are transferable, you may want to look at different industries. If you are doing sales in the finance or IT sector, you may consider sales positions in the telco or health-care sector.

Research your target companies
The golden rule in job-hunting is to research your target companies thoroughly. You should never attend an interview without knowing about the company. It reflects your sloppy attitude towards your career and impairs your sincerity in trying to join an unknown organization.

Demonstrating a strong knowledge of your future employer will give the hiring managers an impressive opinion of yourself, your seriousness, attitude and your interests in the organization. They will have a higher confidence in you to succeed.

Customize your resume
You should never send a generic resume for the positions that you want. Customize your resume by highlighting the most relevant skills and achievements for the jobs. That will help you put greater emphasis on your potential value to the future employers.

Make full use of your network
Your network is key to your success. What you know may be important but who you know may be more important, especially during bad times. With so many candidates applying for the same job, a good recommendation from your network can do wonders to sway the selection decision in your favour.

Sell results, not skills
Employers want results, not skills. You may possess a whole plane-load of skills through your years of hard work. These will be of no use to the employers if they cannot produce results. Your skills are the necessary means to the ends (results). You should clearly explain how you can help your employers achieve the desired results using your skills, instead of just conveniently listing your skills.

List your achievements in your resume
Employers want contributors and problem-solvers. They don’t really want employees. Your resume must be a great sales tool to clinch the interview. It must include a list of achievements to demonstrate your capability and your ability to contribute or to solve problems. That will give you the competitive advantages over your competitors.

Think outside the box
Many people picture the recruitment section and the job-boards when they think of job-hunting. Nothing can be further from the truth. You should identify ideal potential employers and craft customized resumes to send to them. Explain clearly why they should consider employing you.
Contact everyone in your network. Make it clearly known that you are available and are looking for career opportunity in the job market.

Know your worth
Do you know your worth? Not many people do. A rough estimate of your worth can be a proportion of the value of your contributions to the employers. For a sales-related job, the contribution can be related to amount of sales generated. For other positions, it can be related to the amount of cost savings achieved, etc.

Knowing your worth is important as it enhances your bargaining power. You should highlight your worth to your interviewers diplomatically. If possible, let them feel that it is their loss in not employing you.

In the current economical turmoil, job seekers face an uphill task in securing a job. Though tough, it is not totally impossible to secure a job as long as you can approach the task in a logical and rational manner. You can look at the situation from a different perspective and create for yourself competitive advantages to enhance your chances of securing that elusive job.