How to ‘rev-up’ your sleepy recruiters!

The market for agency recruiters is relentlessly tough right now. Many are battling declining demand and skittish clients who are at best unreliable, and at worst openly aggressive and uncooperative. It’s hard to stay motivated in this environment. Yet here we are, with a job to do, overheads to cover, salaries to earn, and targets […]
  • Posted by Greg Savage
  • On September 17, 2013
  • 26 Comments
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What all recruiters WANT to say to their clients, and should – but don’t!

For agency recruiters, it often feels like clients are toying with them these days. It feels for all the world that some* Line Managers, Internal Recruiters and HR types have conspired to make life for recruiters as hellish as possible. Job briefs given out to 6 agents, ‘urgent’ orders postponed after weeks of work, interviews […]
  • Posted by Greg Savage
  • On August 20, 2013
  • 52 Comments
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You don’t need a candidate care department. You need a candidate care ethos.

‘Candidate care’ in recruitment. “It’s like inviting 100 people to a party at your house and then leaving 95 of them outside in the rain” ‘Candidate care’ in our crazy industry normally means one of two things. Either it’s a series of platitudes and clichés on recruiter websites, or it is part of a grand […]
  • Posted by Greg Savage
  • On June 26, 2012
  • 19 Comments
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It’s not ‘cultural’. If you are a jerk, you are just a jerk

Recently I was asked by one of our Sydney recruiters to join her on a client visit to a high profile Ad Agency group. I jumped at the chance because I love speaking with clients, and we were booked to meet two very senior people, both at Executive Creative Director level. We arrived on time […]
  • Posted by Greg Savage
  • On July 13, 2011
  • 39 Comments
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My biggest ever recruitment stuff-up!

It’s quite a few years since I worked a desk as a recruiter. But I did, for many years. And I was a pretty good recruiter too. Not great mind you. Just good enough to have a lot of fun, and make a bit of money. And although it’s true that I billed a fair […]
  • Posted by Greg Savage
  • On April 27, 2011
  • 30 Comments
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How did it get to be ‘OK’ for people to be late for everything?

This post may offend some readers, recruiters or not. But only because it’s going to cut close to the bone for many. And I don’t care if I sound old-fashioned, because actually it’s nothing to do with ‘fashion’ or ‘generation’. It’s got everything to do with basic good manners and respect for other people. So […]
  • Posted by Greg Savage
  • On June 7, 2010
  • 163 Comments
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Recruiters, don’t be sucked into competing on speed and price

Last week I blogged on why so many recruiters have a shallow understanding of what ‘competitive’ in our business actually means. And so how do we thrive in a competitive world? What is the way to differentiate in 2013 and beyond? Well it’s not cool to say it out loud, but as far as I […]
  • Posted by Greg Savage
  • On May 6, 2010
  • 8 Comments
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Recruiters! It takes more than raw aggression and low prices!

There is one word you will always find in any analysis or even casual discussion about the recruitment industry. Competition Get two recruiters or more together, in any setting, and I bet that 90 % of the conversation will be about how competitive its all become and how to beat the competition. A few years […]
  • Posted by Greg Savage
  • On April 30, 2010
  • 2 Comments
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