Now I really like Tim Tolan’s blog posts, but I had to laugh as I read his “Dear Placed Candidate – Remember Me?” article on Fistful of Talent last week. In a nutshell, he was on a mini-rant because candidates, whom he placed, don’t or won’t respond to his follow-up inquiries once they’ve accepted the position. And I don’t blame him for being upset … that conduct is completely unprofessional.
I laughed because you should hear what my CFO clients tell me about the lack of professionalism on the part of executive recruiters. Follow up? They can’t even get them to follow through with a “thanks but no thanks” phone call or email.
Listen, I know (and I coach my clients) that recruiters don’t work for the candidate. They don’t find people jobs; they fill open positions. But it is a two-way street, especially at the senior level. And I’ve had many more than one Chief Financial Officer tell me this …
“I won’t be taking any of his calls once I’ve landed in my new position.”
Executive recruiters who snub CFOs or contact them and then don’t follow-up or follow-through, will reap what they’ve sown. The payback for those recruiters will be painful if my clients are any indication of the C-Suite feelings generally.
You rock, Samuel!
Cindy,
Thank you for touching on the Love/Hate relationship between recruiters and candidates.
Respect is a two-way street. CFOs want to work with recruiters that respect them, give them timely feedback, and offer them more value-add then just sending them on an interview that may not go anywhere.
CFOs should get the following from a value-add recruiter:
– Market information: How the job market is doing for someone at their level (macro) and how it applies to their specific experience and expertise (micro).
– Advice: A recruiter should be able to give you a piece of information about how you can do a better job at marketing yourself. Your job is being CFO. Their job is being a recruiter. When you are looking for a job, you become your own recruiter. You should be getting advice from the expert.
– Support: Yes, a recruiter only earns his fee from a client. But good recruiters work with candidates to support them and guide them – not by being a job coach (that’s not the recruiters job) – but by being supportive, and returning calls.
On that note, I have some calls to make.
Samuel Dergel
Senior Partner and Practice Leader, CFO Search
CFO2Grow
Webite : http://www.cfo2grow.com
Blog: http://www.thefinancialstatement.com
LinkedIn: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/samueldergel
Twitter: @cfo2grow and @cfo2dergel