dusted / 18 April
Does your Asset Management recruiter prove their reliability?
At Mason Blake, we believe trust is a big part of a successful client/recruiter relationship. When we look for talent to fill an asset management position, it’s important to us to prove each time that we know what we’re doing and that the right person was selected for the job. We trust our chosen candidates to give it their all because we believe trust is a two-way street. But we also understand that it’s our responsibility to prove we are trustworthy. That’s why we’ve written this blog about how finance recruiters can prove they are reliable.
A good recruiter won’t make decisions for you
It’s a headhunter’s job to find candidates for a position that are – in their opinion – the best person for the job. They will give you opinions if you need them, but at no point should they be making the decision. It’s not that letting them do this is necessarily risky, but the recruiter works neither for the firm nor the candidate. That means they should not be making decisions on behalf of either. A recruiter is all about introductions, but the decision needs to be yours.
Proof of competence
There are many recruitment agencies out there, but asset management recruiters are a specialist group. They should have an existing reputation for professionalism and successful placements. These placements should be with at least a couple of companies and there should be some positive feedback left from their clients. It might seem cynical, but no feedback should be considered negative feedback.
Another way to check the competence of asset management recruitment firms is to look at their posted content. A firm with a lot of content, be it white papers, blog pages, testimonials, case studies, and even social media is likely to have a better understanding of the industry. A firm that has made the effort to share information is one that trusts its own opinion, and that’s a crucial start when it comes to building the confidence of clients.
Do your research
Of course, it’s not just the recruiter’s job to prove their own reliability. Perform thorough, independent research into the company using any and all resources you have. Start by asking asset management professionals, family, friends, and anyone else who might have experience with the company and can give you a new perspective. You can use tools like LinkedIn to ask previous employees of the recruitment company about their operations or look up the company culture on Glassdoor.co.uk. This should give you an idea of how the company operates and how reliable they are.
Another way to check the reliability of an agency is to ask them for references. Any good recruitment agency will be able to provide several references that you can check in with. For one thing, this will help you establish your recruiter’s speciality. Headhunters usually have a core speciality because, as with all recruitment in finance, without the relevant base skills, a recruiter is unlikely to be able to ensure the best placement.
Do they understand the finance recruitment market?
Recruiting in finance has several key differences to other industries – that’s why it’s essential that your recruiter is a specialist in your field. There are stringent guidelines for vetting potential financial employees. If a job requires the employee to be handling money or making third-party financial transactions, then the candidate for that job will usually require a clear credit history. There are also unpredictable political and social factors that need to be considered, especially during a time of international unrest. Brexit, for instance, could cause significant disruption to the industry that could result in new regulations for asset managers and a transformation of the job market. A knowledgeable recruiter will have a good idea of the different possible fates of the local job market in their specialist area.
Having faith in a recruiter to find the correct candidate or placement isn’t easy. Many recruiters have the primary focus on earning their commission and moving on to the next role. At Mason Blake, we like to think recruiters have a responsibility to our clients to ensure a suitable, lasting relationship between employer and employee. We like to build relationships that grow trust, so we encourage clients to get in touch if they have any questions. Do any of the above points ring familiar to you? Feel free to contact us via our contact page if you’d like to know how Mason Blake became one of the most reliable professional financial recruiters around.
