Ummmmm...
...nope, not convinced. My perspective is based on an internal view of more than one such organisation, not as a {going shiny-suited for a brief moment} 'service user'. I've always relied on myself to find a job and would you Adam & Eve it, I've managed it just fine. As for the implication that I'm a 'product to be sold to the highest bidder', get to fucking fuck on a fuck-cycle. That just makes me like the principle of recruitment consultancy even less.

Putting a recruitment consultant in the same bracket as a time-served tradesman is laughable. Tradesmen spend lots of time earning jack to learn an actual, real skill or even a whole set of such skills in order to earn a living which I respect, whereas recruitment consultants get by from day one on appearances, flim-flammery and general gobbiness, which is the skillset of a snake-oil salesman and worthy of no respect whatsoever. As for taking pride in their work, please, give me a break. I've watched them go about their business in some detail. As long as they tick the boxes that make sure they get paid they don't give a fuck, whether a candidate is really suitable or not. I've observed no exceptions to this. At all.

I'll admit that I have met decent people working in recruitment, but they have all been visibly unsuccessful in the industry and utterly miserable in their jobs, usually on the lookout for something else. That I can understand as I'd probably be the same in their position.

So, my conclusion remains; fuck them all, with another fuck you going out to management-speak in general. Another aspect of modern life we could well do without.
(thatblokeoverthere not quite as much an arsehole as I thought, Fri 28 May 2010, 14:28, 2 replies)

Meh
More fool you if you've been taken in by people who are so obviously dodgy what with their blatant lies and silly haircuts and oh-so shiny suits.

Seriously, my job is to discreetly alert viable candidates to the existence of a new role and ultimately provide a shortlist thereof to a client company - a company who pay me a retainer to do this because they trust me. The company interviews the chosen few then make their choice; The successful candidate is thrilled; I get my fee. Life goes on. If six months down the line the new employee has turned out to be psychotic/alcoholic/ineffectual, I have to do the whole job again for nothing. C'est la vie.

I don't really understand the vitriol. I work at home naked, unless I have to do an interview, in which case I'll don my MATT suit out of respect for my interviewee. I'm more porcine than serpentine. The only moral issue is whether I'm fucking over the companies from which I headhunt. A lot of people will use the fact that they've been approached to get a better deal within their own firm, in which case I've only served to awaken them to their market value.

And I have to know the sector I deal in better than the people I'm approaching or I'll get laughed out of court.

You must be talking about Office Angels or something.
(Happybara The jungle came alive and took him, Fri 28 May 2010, 15:09, closed)

eerrr actually..
Working in the industry, and working with the best you are wrong about this as your view is based on dealing with shit, probably bodyshop IT recs? am I right? no mouthy gobby shiny suited twat lasts in a decent company and the best get trained and are highly skilled in what they do.
And your skills and experience are commodity to be bought and sold like anything else of value and you are deluded to think otherwise so fuck off back to fairy dream land.
Why do think you got a job in the first place? because your nice? got a pretty face? fuck me, even someone as deluded as you can see that you are there to provide a service to your company and in return that’s why you get paid. Your qualifications, skills and experience are what your employers are buying so don’t dress it up as anything else, we work in a capitalist system where everything is commoditised.
Rec consultants will see whether you are suitable for the job and finding the best candidate for the job will provide them with an income and you are the vehicle for doing so the more placements they make the more they get paid. And if they care because if a candidate drops out within the first three months there is something called claw back where money is taken back from them and they have to provide a replacement for free so they do actually care about putting the right people in place. Also repeat business ,why spend weeks and months hard work building up trust and developing a client for doing a one off? Duh, If you are not right for the job they won't put you forward.
Having had a huge amount of experience in many organisations and seen more of how good consultants work, they actually don't behave the way you describe. If they did they would be asked to leave or more likey not recruited into the company in the first place.
in conclusion I am not looking defend the shiny suited shite or to change your mind, it seems pretty closed, just putting it out there to counter your gross generalisations.
btw it would be 'client' not 'service user' or 'mug' in your case based on the ones you have used in the past.
(nimrodihnio making gravy for one., Fri 28 May 2010, 15:15, closed)