"Recruiters treating candidates badly should beware. I will be your client again one day"
When did the banking recruitment market turn so nasty? Something has fundamentally changed in recruitment since I was last in the market around the time of the financial crisis. But firms should be very careful how they treat candidates. They will want us as clients in the future.
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It seems that things have changed dramatically in the past decade. Banks and financial services firms that once used headhunters have now turned to LinkedIn and created their own so-called "talent acquisition" teams in-house.
Not all headhunters are good, but with them you at least knew the rules of the game. In the new world, it seems that firms get so many applicants that it's very difficult to pick out the best ones. Talent acquisition professionals are therefore forced to use blunt cut-offs based on age or salary, or ask AI to select a shortlist for them. They then hide behind Workday and send out rejections from a no-reply email address. Or if they actually engage with candidates, they will suddenly completely ghost them for no reason.
Personally, I've had interview processes that last for six months and have then been ghosted. I've also gone through several rounds of interviews and then been ghosted by in-house teams. Ageism is obviously and bluntly rife - I'm over 50 - but my son is also currently looking for a uni placement and is experiencing exactly the same treatment. I've had very senior people contact me on LinkedIn complaining that they're experiencing this too.
Talent acquisition professionals are going about this wrong. They should be creating a black book of good candidates by meeting excellent people who they can call upon in the future. The reality is the complete opposite. They hide behind Workday, send out rejections from no-reply email addresses - god forbid they engage with candidates and give feedback - or completely ghost candidates.
This is not an acceptable to treat candidates, both experienced or just starting out on their careers. Firms are showing their true colours during the recruitment process, beyond the glossy DEI and S in ESG that they spout to investors at AGMs/on results day or to prospective clients.
My message to recruiters and to firms is this: be very careful about how you treat candidates now as you may want these people to be your clients in the future. I have a list of firms that I will now never do business with due to how they've treated me during the recruitment process. I am a very senior figure in the market and I know that I will get a new role. I can't wait to tell one of these banks and asset managers trying to flog me their products or recruiters trying to flog me their services, why I will never be working with them again.
Be very careful. Times change, but memories are long.
Richard Putman is a pseudonym
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