It’s good to talk!

There’s little more frustrating than not being able to talk with someone who you really need or want to talk with. The longer that you both go without having that all important conversation, the more the subject matter gains in importance, quite possibly to the extent that it has now grown into a mountain of a problem from what was a little molehill.

No matter who you are or what your job is, at some stage of everyday you will inevitably have to talk with a colleague, a customer or someone who might have an influence on your future. Which is where we come into this blog!

As a search firm we’re proactive and tap candidates on the metaphorical shoulder to discuss our client’s opportunity with them. From there the conversation either comes to a stop as they decide that what we’re offering isn’t for them or we move forward and start discussing CV’s.

Now this is what puzzles me. There are endless web sites and firms who will advise you on how to write and present your CV, usually for a fee, and yet we’re staggered by the number of CV’s which we receive that have no contact details on them. The telephone number might be on the original email (rarely post these days) but equally it’s as likely to not be on it. Our only way of contacting that candidate is through the original email and asking them to call us. Naturally we point this out to candidates and have been told on a number of occasions that they’ve been advised to leave these details off as they might be discriminated against because of their location, which you can tell from the address and dialling code!

Forgive me, but this is simply hokum and exceedingly poor advice. I, along with most clients and fellow recruitment consultants, do not have time to try and track down candidates contact details if they won’t supply them on the original CV. Candidates will miss out on opportunities and discover that when the ‘phone doesn’t ring; silence isn’t golden.

As I said: It’s good to talk.