Impersonal, Immature & Ineffective

“Impersonal, Immature and Ineffective”

Written on: 15/11/2011 by Clarky84 (1 review written)

I do not want this post to become a rant about recruiters ethics in general, only to serve as a pragmatic look at Reed.co.uk:
I have applied for well over 300 positions over the course of the past four months.
I have not been applying arbitrarily for positions that are not suitable, instead I have been very careful to only apply for positions that I am confident I can fulfil the remit.
With the number of applications and the care that has been taken over these applications, one would assume that at least one application would garner a follow up phone call, or perhaps an interview - This has not been the case.

Unfortunately I have found that the majority of applications receive no feedback, rarely do they even get acknowledged and consistently I receive the same stock answer of \"you have not been selected for this position\", generally citing better suited applicants in terms of experience or qualifications.

I have pasted a passage below taken from the linkedin page of one of the more prolific recruiters at Reed in my area:

\"I pride myself on offering a bespoke recruitment service to assist with recruitment in all areas. I am passionate about offering a first class service based on honesty, trust and understanding the needs of my clients and candidates\"

For me, a bespoke service involves contacting each appplicant and taking it upon yourself to provide them with feedback regarding their application.
Feedback is not simply telling someone they have not been successful, it is answering queries and providing support to the applicant with a view to placing them into employment. That is the purpose of Reed's existence, isn't it?

I have passed these comments on to Reed and the recruiter in question in the hope that things will change and the quality of service that Reed has (inexplicably) gained will finally be delivered.