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 For
those of you who recently participated in Carnival in Trinidad, I hope you had
as much fun as I did. I have graced this issue with a photo of two of our
recruiters having a great time.
Warning to those
self employed consultants in T&T who are VAT Registered:
WASA is now levying Non-Domestic water rates on all premises where VAT registered
businesses operate. In other words, if you have registered your VAT
business at your home, then you will be billed water rates at the commercial
rate. You can petition the Regulated Industries Commission if you consider
this unfair. Their website is http://www.ric.org.tt .
You are probably thinking
that I'm going to talk about how recruiting agencies should operate in an
ethical manner. Actually, I want to reverse this thought and explore how
candidates and company hirers work with agencies to get the best out of the
partnership so that all parties benefit from the relationship.
What does each party expect
from each other?
- the candidate expects the agency to provide appropriate job opportunities and
present him/her fairly and positively to prospective employers
- the company expects the agency to provide vetted candidates that match their
job requirements, arrange candidate interviews, and help with the negotiations
for hire, in return for an agreed fee
- the agency expects that the candidate has accurately and completely
represented themselves in terms of their qualifications, skills, work experience
and future job goals
- the agency expects that the company gives appropriate feedback on candidates
submitted and works with the agency until the recruitment cycle is complete
The above arrangement works very well and
only goes wrong when any one party fails to live up to the expectations of
another. For example, if a candidate agrees with an agency to meet a company
for a job interview and never shows up and avoids all the agency's calls, or if
the candidate agrees to the salary and other employment terms with the agency
before the interview, then demands much more at the interview, then they are
letting down the agency and wasting the hirer's time.
A more serious example is when a candidate misrepresents their qualifications or
experience on their resume.
Now that candidate has destroyed the trust of
both the agency and the hirer who will have a negative view of this person
should they come across them when considering candidates for future jobs.
Remember that the hirer may move to another company and so the candidate's
prospects may become blocked by that company too.
Hirers sometimes also misuse the relationship
between themselves and the agency. This could be a simple case of not telling
the recruiter why her candidates are unsuitable so that she could adjust her
search to find better matches. Hirers who work closely with their recruiter
definitely get the best results, as people are naturally more effective when
they have a good working relationship.
There are extreme cases where the hirer
deliberately misrepresents the facts! For example, a hirer may get the
candidate to agree to tell the agency that he/she had already applied directly
to the hiring company, so the hirer can avoid paying the agency's recruitment
fees. Another tactic is to get the candidate to tell the agency that their
salary is lower than what was agreed, so that the recruitment fee is reduced.
Any act of dishonesty is almost always found
out eventually by the agency staff, if they are good at maintaining a
relationship with their candidates. You can imagine how badly this reflects on
the hiring company's ethics and I have known cases where the candidate refused
the job because of this. Of course this creates an unpleasant dilemma for the
agency as to whether or how to deal with that company again, especially if they
are giving a lot of business to the agency.
Yes, the agency needs to be honest with all
parties as well, and never knowingly submit a candidate with a negative history
or inaccurate resume. I strive to live according to the following code of
ethics which you may have heard of:
"In all things that I think, say or do ....
1. Is it the TRUTH?
2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3. Will it build GOOD WILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?"
Do you have any experiences to share along
these lines?
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We would love to hear what you think of this issue of CRS News.
And of course, if you have any suggestions for upcoming issues that you would
like to share with us, please send those too.
Comments, suggestions, feedback?
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