Candidate Screening

Naturally, a recruiter can only add value to a business by presenting only those candidates who are most suited to the position - from a technical and a personal perspective - it saves everyone time and effort.

But look deeper and you'll find that screening on technical issues alone is not at all efficient.

Most IT Recruiters simply scan CVs for relevant keywords for their initial screening.

They will take a brief client requirement from an employer and then throw in the technical key words into their candidate database, which acts in much the same way as a search engine does.

The more times a key word or skill is found on a CV, the more relevant it thinks the result is.

Chances are that your IT recruiter is not long out of his or her teens and has no idea whether the candidate is right for the job or not.

The fact is, if the CV contains 10 instances of the key word he was looking for such an inexperienced recruiter will assume that the candidate must be right for the job!

He then sends the CV to the client, along with a few others - sometimes many others.

It's not necessarily the recruiter's fault.

Technology has changed. CV's are electronic these days and advertising on the Internet for jobs is very inexpensive.

Applications come in by the bucket load. You can't expect a busy recruiter to read all of the applications can you? That's the client's job!

The buck stops with the client though.

By insisting on some quality control at the stage where the recruiter calls and asks for details of the job vacancy, an employer can save himself an awful lot of time and trouble.

All you have to do when you get the canvassing call is either say "no" or, if you do provide vacancy details, insist that:

	the recruiter takes full job details including salary, location, duties, etc.
	the recruiter sends no more than 3 applications - the BEST 3
	the recruiter personally interviews candidates against YOUR vacancy
	the recruiter qualifies the candidate's interest in the position
	the recruiter ensures that the candidate is not already being considered by another agency
	timescales are adhered to - give them 72 hours to get CVs to you

IT Recruiters don't always play by the rules. They will SAY that they have pre-qualified a candidate's interest. They will SAY that a candidate is keen to be interviewed. They will SAY that they have personally interviewed each candidate.

The truth though, is often very different.

Most recruiters don't interview their candidates, because they know that unless they get the CV onto your desk immediately, then someone else will.

Why waste time interviewing a candidate? If the client wants to interview, you can always say that the candidate has found something else...

Screening candidates takes time. A good recruiter will take the time to do the job properly if he believes that the employer isn't simply providing details of the vacancy to every recruiter that calls.

Look on ANY of the major job boards and you will often the same job being advertised several times by many different recruitment agencies. That spells trouble for the candidate and for you as the employer.

Most job boards are automated and set up to make instant CV submissions and job applications to any vacancies containing their "key words". The candidates don't even know what jobs they are applying for anymore!

Do you really expect to get highly motivated, interested people through your door?

The best defence you have against unscrupulous IT recruiters who don't do the job properly is simply to say, "no thanks".

That tip alone will save you countless hours on the phone or reading masses of CV's.

You should be feeling better already!

If you'd like to explore a better and more personal approach to IT recruitment, please call David Carter on 01564 824554.