In Defense of Recruiting

Things are a bit slow around here these days - if you haven't heard, there's a recession - so I've been feeding internet addictions. Indulging the bad news (I should look away, but I rarely do what I'm told), I came across this article yesterday afternoon:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/14/google-lays-off-100-recruiters/

So Google is laying off 25% of their recruiting staff worldwide. Sad news for the recruiters, who are likely entry-level and will have a very hard time finding other recruiting positions in this market. What I found more interesting (but unfortunately, not surprising) were the comments posted in response to the article. Here is a sweet sampling:

-"Are recruiters lower than attorneys on the low-life scale?"
-"There is only one thing lower than a recruiter. A Google Recruiter."
-"Recruiters are scum of the earth. They will say anything to get you to do what THEY want. These are people who have backgrounds in COLD CALLING and TELE-MARKETING. So they are like vultures. Also, they are completely unneeded. They don’t do any special job of filtering….. How could they? They have no background in the REAL industry."

This touched such a nerve with that I actually took the time to post a response:

"C’mon, not all recruiters are scum of the earth. I choose to be a recruiter because I find it extremely rewarding to place people in good jobs. In fact, most of my dear friends today are people who I have met through the recruitment process and placed in jobs. If you can manage to find a good, trustworthy recruiter (trust me, they DO exist), that person can open up a lot of doors for you. My most rewarding placements are the ones where my candidates didn’t fit the paper requirements, but I got them in the door anyway because I knew they were a great company fit and I had the ear of the hiring manager. Those candidates wouldn’t have had a shot blindly applying on their own. Give the good ones out there some credit. Some of us do really good things. And the above comments are correct; once recruiters start losing their jobs, things are about to start hitting the fan - fast and furious."

I've always had something of an existential crisis regarding the ethics of recruiting. Like most people, I fell into the career by chance (I don't know many people who grow up wanting to be recruiters). By chance, I fell in love with the industry. I have always been a naturally good matchmaker, and recruiting allows me the opportunity to matchmake all day long - and get paid for it! After years of struggling in various, poorly organized fundraising roles, I knew that I wanted to continue to help people but needed to move away from the instability of not-for-profit and get a "real" job (and honestly, one that would help me make a dent in the student loans that financed my B.A. in Literature).

In practice, I adore my job. In the real world, things can get tricky. Every dinner party I attend is preceded by varying amounts of anxiety when I tell people what I do for a living (I've tried everything: Recruiter. Human Resources, Headhunter. Career Counselor. "I find jobs for people." Nothing seems to fit quite right). Nearly everyone at these dinner parties has had a pretty negative (sometimes horrifying) story to tell me about an experience with a recruiter. It's embarrasing. I have spent many nights convincing my boyfriend that there was just no way I could continue to do something for a living that I believe is good, but that almost no one respects.

But he reminded me of something really, really important. I do good things for people. I find people jobs. I am able to help people even when I don't place them - by networking, helping them with their resumes, giving them hope. I care about my candidates. I have made many, many great friendships through what I do. And most of all, I am a voice for those of us out there who love what we do and do our jobs ethically. He reminded me that the recruiting industry needs people like me.

Sure, there are bad recruiters. There are also crooked accountants, doctors, teachers, dentists, plumbers, and receptionists. Find those of us out there who care about what we do.

I'm no longer in hiding. I am proud to be a recruiter.

Spread the word.