Nine ways to spot bad recruiters

The employment market in Asian banking isn’t as buoyant as last year, so if you’re using recruiters to assist your job search you need to be extra sure that they’re experts in your sector. Most will be, but there are still some cowboy recruiters out there – here’s how to weed them out so you only work with the best.

1. Banking recruiters who just don’t understand your job

“I think recruiters not speaking the same language as a candidate is a common problem,” says Vince Natteri, director of recruitment at search firm Pinpoint Asia in Hong Kong. “For example, when an IT candidate talks about Unix, Linux, Java, AJAX or J2EE and the recruiter doesn’t understand him, this recruiter won’t be able to represent him as well as someone who does.”

2. Those who sell and don’t listen

Beware recruiters who begin meetings by giving you the hard sell about the job on offer. “The very basic rule of thumb in the recruitment industry is to listen to candidates first and talk next. There’s nothing to ‘sell’ until you first understand the candidate,” says Natteri.

3. Avoid those who can’t provide market insights

“Try to work with recruiters who give you a competitive edge: colour on hiring trends, market feedback on your weak points, and detailed backgrounds on prospective employers and interviewers,” says Nick Wells, director at search firm Webber Chase in Singapore. “Avoid those who can’t do the above and just offer social media ‘shout-outs’ for job ads.”

4. Banking recruiters who mismanage you salary

“One of the more common errors is mismanaging the release of a candidate’s salary, both current and expected,” says Ben Batten, country general manager of recruitment firm Volt in Singapore. “Sometimes just sending the CV to the bank with salary details and no justification can mean a candidate gets overlooked for this reason alone. For recruiters, getting all the information together so you can justify the salary to clients is critical, particularly if it’s over budget.”

5. Recruiters should be able to be good career advisors

“A lot of recruiters you meet simply aren’t experienced enough to provide you with good career advice,” says Craig Brewer, director at recruitment company FiveTen Group in Singapore. “Some will simply ‘advise’ you to take the role they have on offer, so it’s best to already know what kind of job you want, otherwise you could find yourself getting talked into something that’s not in your best interests.”

6.Shy away from those who don’t ask for consent

“Make sure your recruiter asks your permission before they even discuss your details with a client, let alone send your resume for any new roles that crop up,” says Brewer. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve briefed a candidate about a job and got their go-ahead, but found that another recruiter had sent their details to the same bank without checking. Make sure you tell your recruiter upfront that they need your permission.”

7. The CV spammers

Not being explicit about consent could even led to the ultimate recruiter crime – indiscriminate spamming of your CV to all the employers on their books. “The worst example I heard of this was a recruiter sending a resume to a sister business of the candidate’s, which shared the same HR function,” says James Carss, Hong Kong director of recruiters HFG. “The CV actually ended up on his boss’ desk, causing huge embarrassment all round.”

8. Banking recruiters who harass you to close the deal

“A senior IB candidate recently told us that he once dealt with a recruitment firm and received an offer from one of their banking clients,” says Natteri from Pinpoint Asia. “When he told the consultant he needed some time to think about it, he received further calls, about 20 minutes apart and lasting until midnight, from different managers in the firm telling him to take the offer. Their motivations were only focused on their fee and not what was best for the candidate and the client.”

9. Some work on a ‘churn and burn’ mentality

“The bad recruitment firms have a high turnover of staff,” says Wells from Webber Chase. “You will always be called by a different recruiter rather than someone who has taken the time to build up a strong understanding of your needs – both personal and profession – to whom you are more than just a resume.”