I don't know if many of you know how the agency model works, but it is a simple one. Each recruitment agent is given a territory (usually geographical) and a telephone along with a database of CVs. Your CV is the richest source of "quick" information there is. Someone with no contacts and no knowledge of the industry (and therefore cheap) can hit the ground running from day one (maybe with some training thrown in).
References are now the most sought after bit of "extra information" that there is, not only is there a name supplied but there is valuable informaqtion about the technical environment and the project itself. You can try and talk to contractors and screw info out of them, but it is time consuming and contractors prefer to talk about what is important to them, ie, their next gig or their train set in the loft
. Quite often contractors work out pretty easily that they are being used. Far better to throw a bit of legal requirement at them and just get the names than engage in a long conversation.
These agents are then made to make 50 calls a day to clients in order to obtain not only requirements but also names of other likely hiring managers. They pick up requirements and they begin talking to contractors who may be up for their jobs. This has a snowball effect in gathering information, and it is how that information is used and how networks develop and how determined the RC is in making placements that determine success.
The activities are all measured in terms of number of calls made, CVs sent, interviews arranged, placements made and margins tweaked. It then becomes easy to manage because a sales manager can look at the stats and immediatly tell an individuals strengths and weaknesses. If for instance an RC is picking up a lot of jobs and sending lits of CVs, yet getting few interviews then the problem can be identified as either a weakness in the link with the hiring manager or a lack of understanding of what hiring managers want, issues that can be dealt with usually with extra training/help.
There are other tricks and tactics that agencies use but the core of the model is as I have explained. The whole business then becomes a numbers and processes game whereby management/shareholder can look at stats as a pointer as to the profitability of the business.
The same business model is applied to Foxtons and a host of other sales led businesses. It may be impersonal, it may not be seen as candidate focussed but it works.
References are now the most sought after bit of "extra information" that there is, not only is there a name supplied but there is valuable informaqtion about the technical environment and the project itself. You can try and talk to contractors and screw info out of them, but it is time consuming and contractors prefer to talk about what is important to them, ie, their next gig or their train set in the loft
. Quite often contractors work out pretty easily that they are being used. Far better to throw a bit of legal requirement at them and just get the names than engage in a long conversation.These agents are then made to make 50 calls a day to clients in order to obtain not only requirements but also names of other likely hiring managers. They pick up requirements and they begin talking to contractors who may be up for their jobs. This has a snowball effect in gathering information, and it is how that information is used and how networks develop and how determined the RC is in making placements that determine success.
The activities are all measured in terms of number of calls made, CVs sent, interviews arranged, placements made and margins tweaked. It then becomes easy to manage because a sales manager can look at the stats and immediatly tell an individuals strengths and weaknesses. If for instance an RC is picking up a lot of jobs and sending lits of CVs, yet getting few interviews then the problem can be identified as either a weakness in the link with the hiring manager or a lack of understanding of what hiring managers want, issues that can be dealt with usually with extra training/help.
There are other tricks and tactics that agencies use but the core of the model is as I have explained. The whole business then becomes a numbers and processes game whereby management/shareholder can look at stats as a pointer as to the profitability of the business.
The same business model is applied to Foxtons and a host of other sales led businesses. It may be impersonal, it may not be seen as candidate focussed but it works.
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