Customer Service in The World of Recruitment

The recruitment industry operates by connecting talented, qualified individuals with companies that are in need of skilled employees. As a result, recruitment agencies need to approach customer service from two very different directions. On the one hand, recruitment agencies need to make sure that their paying clients – the companies in need of talent – are furnished with candidates who are not only competent, but are also suitable for the job in terms of character and personal history. On the other hand recruitment agencies need to be able to provide prospective candidates with a service which will help them achieve their life goals and aspirations.



In a recent interview, Unati Gwija, a business development consultant at Talent Ocean, revealed some of the challenges and triumphs associated with customer service in the recruitment industry. "Dealing with job hunters, in the recruitment industry, is not simply the process of reviewing a CV and submitting it to prospective employers.



"The recruitment industry is not a cattle market, and, on a daily basis recruiters are tasked with the challenge of helping people realise their dreams and aspirations. As a result, recruiters need to focus on providing job seekers with qualified advice and enabling them to reach their goals. This isn’t as simple as it sounds; a good recruiter will endeavour to find a job for a seeker which not only meets their requirements for their career, but will also live up to their expectations in terms of work environment, cultural expectations and future prospects."



As my interview with Unati progressed, it became blatantly apparent that a good recruitment agency values and exonerates the candidates that it sources. "Typically, I’ll make at least two to three follow-up calls to candidates that I have placed. I’ll normally make these calls at monthly intervals and will try to ascertain whether or not the candidate is happy in the position they have been placed in," she says.



Making sure that candidates are happy in the position that they have been placed in is only half of the job when it comes to recruitment client service. "A recruiter’s reputation and brand value are intrinsically based on the quality of candidates that the recruiter is able to source. As a result, it becomes imperative to ensure that the candidates we source are skilled, proficient and of a reputable character. Unfortunately, there are recruiters out there who are only interested in receiving a commission for sourcing a candidate and pay absolutely no attention to a client’s satisfaction with their new employee. This isn’t simply poor customer service, it equates to dereliction of duty" explains Unati.



Finding the right candidate for the right job would appear to be a daily challenge which good recruiters place at the top of their priority list. Without effective client service strategies in place, recruiters will never be able to establish how well they are achieving this goal. "As with my candidates, I’ll make at least three or four calls to evaluate a placed candidate’s performance in any given position. This serves two purposes; firstly I need to be sure that my candidates are living up to my client’s expectations. Secondly, I need to ascertain whether or not I have met my obligations, to my client, as a recruiter. One follow-up call is simply not enough. There are instances where candidates either under or over perform during their probationary period. As a result, evaluating their performance over a period of time is the only way that I can establish whether my job has been executed in a manner which satisfies both by clients and my candidates," enthuses Unati.



The recruitment industry is a highly competitive environment to operate in. As a result, recruiters may start to neglect their customer services to give them more time to hunt for candidates and clients. Unfortunately, there is no escaping poor customer service; you’ll find it in any industry. However, when it comes to choosing a recruiter, either to find you a job or a candidate, it pays to consider how the recruiter will service your needs and how they’ll go about ensuring that you receive the best service possible.



http://talentocean.co.za/magazine/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=37:customer-service-in-the-world-of-recruitment