Pigeonholed to a sector by recruiters - Working in HR - Careers Clinic

2 Pigeonholed to a sector by recruiters

Maria | 0 Posts

16 Mar, 2017 15:28

Hi all,

I have recently started looking for a new HR role (not super actively, but applying now and then and getting in touch with recruiters).

I have a uni degree, CIPD Level 5, and I've had 2 HR jobs at Advisor level, one in a digital tech start up and most recently (current one) in a charity. Before then I worked in an Admin + HR role in public sector internationally, so technically I've covered all 3 sectors. I am based in London, and I am not sure if it's the same in other parts of the UK, but here an absolute majority of the jobs are advertised by recruitment agencies, so there's really no way around them.

I have been applying for HR roles within all spheres as I want to get an all-round experience, so for instance media, television, construction, IT, professional services etc. where the responsibilities realistically matched what I am currently doing or capable of doing moving forward.

I found from my quick search that my applications get ignored by recruiters, what little feedback I received was from a media recruiter (and I had to ASK for a response 3 times) was that "their clients require a specific sector experience and mine is not aligned with those requirements". I mean, I did work in a digital start up but MOST RECENTLY for a charity - does that mean I am only allowed to work in charities now?

I feel uneasy about recruiters making those sorts of judgements without even giving the employer a chance to assess my CV for what it is and simply cutting me off on the sector basis. I also have significant doubts about some recruiters' ability to judge an HR person's skillset and suitability, when they have been a "Specialist HR Recruiter" for 8 months and previously a Sales Assistant at Boots or Hairdresser. I get the impression that most of them work to "match the job spec from client word for word, sector for sector and industry for industry".

I can relate to the idea that it's perceived to be an asset if you've come from the exact same industry, but at the same time I don't appreciate being pigeonholed to a specific field just because I've worked here most recently. Especially so, when I am personally aware of how fast paced and at time commercial and pragmatic my current charity role is, and how much more experience it has given me than the private sector start up role.

Please could you share your experiences of moving between sectors/industries in HR and whether there is a way around recruiters?

Kind regards,

Maria

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Keith | 0 Posts

16 Mar, 2017 16:04

Maria

By your own admission you are not searching seriously, you are just dipping your toe in and out the water. Your experience is almost bound to be mixed as a result.

As an aside I am not sure it helps greatly being quite derogatory about people in the recruitment industry - I am not sure what you will gain from that mindset. You should not be thinking about how to get "round" recruiters (although a few people can) but how you can make them your allies in your job search.

The whole point of companies appointing search/recruitment firms is to free them from the admin of dealing with lots of unsuitable candidates. If the recruitment firm isn't delivering the types of candidate that the employer wants then lets look to the HR Departments who employ them rather than doubting the professionalism of the agencies. My guess is in your example it is the Company not the recruiter who has specified current relevant experience....

I can see why if I had ten candidates (or 20 or 30) with recent relevant experience I might shortlist from those rather than someone who moved out of my chosen sector and into one someway culturally and organisationally different. The feedback given may well be lazy or it may well be entirely genuine. If you don't want to be pigeonholed then you will have to work very hard to establish and build relationships with the key recruiters in the sectors you want to move into - it wont just happen - it can be almost a full time job.

As it happens I have always changed sectors when I changed jobs. This was a deliberate strategy for me. I have worked in finance, publishing, retail, leisure. utilities, health and outsourcing/services. Ownership has been both domestic and international, Public, Private , Owner and Private Equity. It is possible to change sector if you have a strong enough CV and target that result. Most of my jobs have come in one way or another through recruiters / search firms and I see my job as making it easy for them to do their job.
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Maria | 0 Posts

16 Mar, 2017 16:21

In reply to Keith:
Hi Keith,

Well, whenever I “dip my toe in the water” I still adapt my CV and write a cover letter detailing my experience and how it matches the role. I then contact the recruiter directly (a lot of them are in my LinkedIn contacts) and send it all to them along with a very polite personalised message. I then get dead silence, although I was only responding to their own shout out on LinkedIn that said ‘I’ve got X number of HR roles in media, please get in touch for a chat!” So I get in touch for a chat – it shows ‘message read’ but nothing. Then I follow up – politely. Nothing. I do invest time and effort in this, so it’s plain rude to ignore it – but that’s just my opinion.

I have a mixed opinion about recruiters – I have excellent relationships with a lot of them, mostly as a client however all of them deal with non-HR roles, and those who do sadly only in the charity sector. I am not sure how I am supposed to establish further “excellent relationships” with recruiters from a candidate viewpoint (as I am never a client for HR roles) when they simply ignore all my messages. I write once, twice, three times – then give up, what else can I do?

I don’t even see the point of them adding me on LinkedIn – some even use the paid LinkedIn messages to get in touch with me first – I respond and they are quiet again. The question is, why did you waste company cash on writing to me if you had no intention of talking? They only ever seem to need me when they’re trying to get client business. I have to answer the phone and listen to sales pitches from at least 5 recruiters every single day, and I am very polite about it.

Some recruiters I’ve worked with have been terrible. They were rude, dismissive with candidates, lied to candidates when they messed up the interviews and gave them wrong info that we did as the employer and not them making us look bad. So I am entitled to form my own opinions about recruiters and judge each case on its merits. I know there are great ones out there – I just haven’t found them yet.

I am also deliberately trying to change sectors and I am ready to take the time and effort it takes, I don’t expect it to be instantaneous. But not making “looking for a job a full time job” like you say, after all I do have a full time job.
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