Recruitment of talent - Who is the Buyer? Who is the seller?

“62% are Arrogant,

42% are unprepared

43% had poor questioning skills

and that’s just THE INTERVIEWERS !!!"

(These are some figures from a survey from online recruitment specialists Monster.co.uk on the views of recruitment candidates and interviewers. Their site has useful tips on preparing for interviews - CV preparation etc., a company profile section for those extra pieces of information you may need on a prospective employer, career snapshot and benchmark tools plus they cover sales and marketing sectors. Scroll down for link )

An interesting question came from a delegate last week at a sales skills course I was facilitating in central London.


It came from a sales professional of 12 years’ experience in the engineering world ( heat tracing sector).

“What are the differences between the skills sets of the buyer and seller?”

It was a good opportunity for the group to discuss and analyse the roles and skills set of sellers and buyers.

The group felt that the skills sets were very similar.


Our conclusion for the range of businesses that the group sold in, was that selling and buying are two sides of the same coin.

Later on in the week I met a trainer specialising in purchasing training at HRD 2011 held London's Olympia Exhibition centre. He told me that companies spend 10 times more on sales training than on purchasing training.

Since recruiters may well feel they are "The Buyer" one wonders how much training they as interviewers undertake. Plenty of people are coached on applying for jobs but from the Monster.co.uk survey maybe the interviewers could do with some refreshment training as well.
Opportunities for Graduates in marketing , sales and purchasing was reported on last year. One wonders whether the Monster.co.uk research reflects our sectors.

London’s Evening Standard newspaper on 5th April ran the story of the Monster.o.uk findings.

The survey researched candidates and recruiters for their views of the opposite party in recruitment interviews .


Recruiters also have to sell the benefits of their company through the advertisements and the interview process as well as buy suitable candidates.

Similarly a candidate needs to sell the benefits to the recruiter of employing them as well as choosing whether to buy the recruiter's offer of an appointment.

There is a pendulum-like swinging back and forth between the two parties adopting selling and buying positions in a recruitment meeting.

Employers were considered off putting by their arrogance by 62% of the candidates in the study

42% said that the employers were poorly prepared for the interview

43% felt they were asked irrelevant questions.

Interviewers were surprisingly candid by admitting that:-

30% had forgotten the candidate’s name during the interview

28% confessed that they had indeed gone to the interview unprepared

19% had even forgotten an interview entirely.

There has also been quite a debate about ' internships' in the news during the week. Deputy PM Nick Clegg declared family assistance in getting introduced to his first job in a bank. Such introductions can occur in Sales also , but what has been clear for graduates entering the Sales field is the likelihood to find that previous sales experience on their will be of help. ( see research by The graduate market in 2011)
FIRST IMPRESSIONS DO COUNT

54% of employer respondents in the Monster.co.uk study admitted they have taken an instant dislike to a candidate.

Yet 26% Candidates thought that researching the person interviewing them was the least important homework.

25% of candidates admitted to arriving late to an interview. This figure is somewhat at odds with the employer’s perspective which said 81% claimed to have experienced a candidate being late for an interview.

41% of candidate respondents don’t think looking online for interview advice as an important preparation task. ( 59% I suppose do!)

What I guess the Monster.co.uk. research shows, is that punctuality, questioning and listening skills plus planning skills are common skill- sets for Buying and Selling.

Like my school reports both candidates and recruiters may well " try hard but ( they) could do better!" it seems.
Click for Monster Co UK On line recruitment site