At some stage last year, I suggested to our boss that we start a matchmaking department in our office. I figure it isn’t that different to recruiting – and it would be WAY more fun! The idea wasn’t met with as much enthusiasm as I had expected… in fact I think he laughed at me and went back to work (and probably expected me to get back to my job as well… which… ah-hem… of course I did)!

I was thinking about it the other day… Recruitment is a form of matchmaking. We take a job description and match it with suitable CV’s. Send the owners of the CV’s on ‘dates’ (interviews) and cross our fingers and toes (and everything in between) that one of them would be a match made in heaven! Okay, so it’s a little bit more complicated than that, but you get the drift.

I read a couple of articles this morning about recruitment agencies being bad – they never contact you back, they sell your details to other agencies, they have their own agendas… It frustrates me that generalizations were made about all recruitment agencies when these people had bad experiences with one or two companies. Would you say that all action movies are bad just because you didn’t like the Rambo series??

I can’t talk on behalf of all recruitment agencies; I can only say what I know from working at CML. So I will take a couple of points taken from different articles and try to rebut against them:

• Recruitment agencies are all the same
  Don’t be stupid, they are not. That’s like saying every guy with brown hair and green eyes is going to cheat on you because it’s happened once before.
• Recruitment agencies are the middle men that steal your money by the hour
  My dear friends: we provide a service. We provide a service to our clients by helping them find the best employees. We provide a service to you by helping you to find work. At CML, we do not charge our candidates. We bill our clients. Would you provide a service to someone and expect not to get paid?

• They steal your details to put on lists, and then sell them to other agencies
  Our business is built on being reliable, professional and being good at what we do. Why would we sell your details to other agencies, when that would prevent us from placing you ourselves? Why would we sell your details to ANYONE? Not only do we not have the time to do that, it isn’t in our best interests!
• Recruitment agencies are keeping people out of work with their ridiculous and over complicated sign up policies
  There is a reason that we ask for references, forms to be completed, passport photos etc. Our clients trust us to find the most suitable candidates for each job. To do this, we need to see references to verify what you have said about yourself on your CV and in your interview. We need you to complete different forms for various reasons – work permits mainly (for international candidates), health insurance, and for our database so that we have your details on file for when we need them. Your passport photos will go on your work permit application. It’s an immigration requirement. We don’t ask for them so that we can sit there staring at you all day. Sorry – but we don’t.

Now there were a lot more points that were made in the articles I read, but I think I will start finishing up as I’m sure this isn’t exactly the most interesting reading material you’ve ever found.

Companies ask us to assist them in the hiring process. It saves them the time of going through 50 CV’s when there are only 15 in the pile that actually fulfill all the requirements of a specific position they are hiring for. If you are one of the people whose CV did not fulfill all requirements, we still have your details on file and can contact you when another position arises that you would be better suited for. If you apply directly to a company it may end up in the bin.

At CML, our recruitment consultants are friendly, professional and always willing to help. If they don’t think we will be able to find work for you, they will let you know. There is no reason for us to give you false hopes.

That is all… I’m feeling a little bit peeved at the moment. Can you tell?