I've spent the past several months lurking and posting on the jobs forum at Whirlpool. Now for those of you unfamilar with Whirlpool, it's probably Australia's leading internet and technology discussion boards, with some 400000+ users and 1000000+ threads. And one of the more active forums is the jobs forum. People discuss resume formats, interview strategies, debate the merits (or otherwise) of different employers, and discuss the general goings on within the Australian IT industry as they impact on recruitment. As an IT Recruiter, it's quite an interesting community to be involved in.
Two things stand out to me from my time spent on Whirlpool:
(1) IT Recruiters are widely disliked, and
(2) There are a huge number of misconceptions about how the IT Recruitment Industry works.
The first point doesn't shock me - I remember when I was first looking to start out in recruitment I was frequnetly told that this was not the most respected of careers. I am though somewhat surprised by the depth and vehemence of that dislike from some individuals, and also the bredth of that dislike.
The second point though is perhaps the more interesting one, and I can't help but feel that a number of the misconceptions that surround the industry fuel the contempt that exists for my chosen profession.
So this blog has been created with the idea of trying to address some of those misconceptions and perhaps better explain how the recruitment industry works. If nothing else it might allay the frustrations of some of the regulars on Whirpool, though perhaps I'm being naive.......
