I’ve had a few
situations recently when candidates have been a bit ‘lukewarm’ when I’ve run
certain agencies by them. Whilst over
the years, there have always been some agencies who have reputations for one
thing or another, I’ve always felt there are horses for courses and there is
somewhere for everyone. I generally know
which agencies are good for juniors where they’ll have to work hard but they
can also play hard, I know which agencies have a good work-life balance, which
are best for working mums and which are good when you’ve had enough of climbing
the slippery career ladder and you just want to do a good job with no game
playing.
So I’m not sure if it’s a bit reflective of a new generation
coming through or something else.
Several candidates have recently declined opportunities because they’ve; ‘had a
friend who didn’t enjoy it there’, ‘heard it has a revolving door’, ‘heard that it’s all churn and no creative’, ‘heard
the boss is a bitch’, ‘heard they don’t leave before 10 at night on a regular
basis’, ‘heard the boss is a randy old goat’, ‘heard if you don’t play
football, you won’t get in’, ‘heard it’s
like the Hollyoaks set’, ‘heard they all do drugs’, ‘heard there is a dog’
(really). I could go on. I’ve been doing this job for over 10 years
and I’d like to think I’m an ethical recruiter – if I truly thought that any
client was a dreadful/unsafe place to work, I wouldn’t be dealing with that
agency and they’d in turn be unlikely to see the value in paying someone like
to me find them quality staff.
Rivalry between agencies over the years has been
intense. There are a lot of independent
agencies in the North and people have moved around, split up, started new
offshoots and with all of that comes rivalry, competition and a certain amount
of gossip and rumour that can often result in Chinese whispers and plain
untruths in the open market. In a couple
of the bigger agencies, I think there is active gossip which is intended to
keep employees loyal – several candidates will say ‘I’ll go anywhere but there’. Creative work of rival agencies is passed off
as weak or with an insubstantial client roster – all of this can be quite
powerful in altering the perceptions of a candidate as to where they would like
to work.
Often when I’ve asked candidates who are negative about
previous employers the reasons for their negativity, my feelings can be mixed.
Often I can find myself siding with the client and feeling that perhaps the
employee had unrealistic expectations or simply they weren’t very good at their
job or had oversold themselves into too senior a role and it then became clear
they weren’t up to the challenge. The natural reaction of any individual is a
defensive strategy and they wouldn’t look to themselves to say perhaps it just
hadn’t been the right environment for them at that stage in their lives. Similarly, I can sometimes see exactly where
a candidate is coming from – perhaps their boss is a bit too straight talking
or blunt – but what wasn’t right for them, might be absolutely fine for someone
else. So in a long winded way, I’m
saying each to their own. Just because
an agency wasn’t right for someone else, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not
right for you. Wouldn’t it be worth
checking it out for yourself?
I always recommend that if there is an available role or
opportunity in an agency where your skill-set matches that on demand and that
it’s geographically do-able, on the right salary scale and on clients/campaigns
you would like to work on then it’s worth going along for a chat and making
your own mind up. Going for a first
interview is not selling your soul, you are under no obligation to sign up to
anything. It’s a chance for you to find out about the company, the role and for
the client to see if you’re the right fit for them. Is there chemistry there? What’s your gut feel?
I’ve also met most of my clients. I always ask for a face to
face meeting when I take on a new client and I get a feel for myself as to the
environment, the type of person who works there etc and then do my best to
match make to ensure that the ‘fit’ is as close as possible. Then, if you’re selected for an interview,
that is the opportunity to sniff each other out and to go from there. Whilst some companies do have ‘reputations’, it’s
important to stay objective and not to rule anything out on what is essentially
just hearsay.