Picture it – you’re sitting at a client site, up to your neck in work, and your mobile goes. A voice at the other end of the line goes:“Hoi ! The name’s Jeffery Witherington-Jones from SuperDuper Executive search. Oi got your name from a colleague ….”At which point I, for one, usually respond “Not interested, please remove me from your contact lists” before hanging up.A colleauge recently suggested that some of these cold callers are worth listening to, but I’m not sure I agree.Which is the best / worst recruitment agent / head hunter / executive search expert I cry? They’re all as bad as each other in my book: never return calls, put you forward for inappropriate jobs, and then talk over you when they call you. Up there with estate agents in terms of the sort of people I’d put up against the wall, when I am crowned King.The problem is that if you want to apply to a specific consultancy and go direct, most of the time they fluff up your application.So a bit like estate agents, they fulfil a role, even if their plummy public school accents makes my flesh crawl.

Dear Plagued by cold callers, If you can get all of the below from a direct application , then if and when you are crowned King, I will gladly take my punishment.WHY USE A GOOD RECRUITMENT CONSULTANT .......OUR DEFENCEIf we are mealy glorified post boxes that manage to (as you suggest), send CVs to the wrong address, then I wouldn't have such a good group of professionals on my team who deserve the word consultant on their business card. A good recruitment consultant will really add value to the process in the following ways:SHARE THEIR MARKET KNOWLEDGE WITH YOU - if they are sector or service line specialists within management consultancy, they will have an understanding of how all the top consultancy recruit, can quickly judge your experience, manage your expectations, tell you your market worth, inform you of who's hiring, how they hire and who will be interested in your skill set.GIVE YOU ACCESS TO THEIR NETWORK - If they have been selected as a recruitment partner by a consulting firm, HR and hiring partners will value their advice and judgement when it comes to your application.EXPLAIN THE ROLE - What can you tell from a piece of paper? They can give talk you through reasons for recruitment, strategic plans, example projects, cut through jargon, talk to you about people they have placed, why they joined, what projects they have been doing in the role.TELL YOU ABOUT THE TEAM - Again, if they are good, they will know teams very well, the team size, team dynamics, why people were hired, where they came from, tell you about people they have placed and their personalities, backgrounds, achievements. EXPLAIN REWARD AND RECOGNITION - The career route once you are in, how you are assessed, when you are assessed, what the bonus plan is, how it works, what benefits, how they work, how they compare from consultancy to consultancy, the training and development on offer, the mentor plan.HELP YOU MARKET YOURSELF IN THE BEST WAY - Help to highlight the important details on your CV, highly sought after skill set.COACHING YOU THROUGH THE INTERVIEW PROCESS - They know who will interview you, what the structure will be, what the person on the other end looks like, sounds like, pet hates etc….Tell you how best to explain your experience, give you feedback on how you come across, what you could do better, your strengths, weaknesses.HELP YOU THROUGH ASSESSMENT CENTRES - They can point you in the right direction when it comes to verbal and numerical testing, example case studies, talk you through the day, who you will meet, what they are like, what you'll have for lunch, where you will have it….as much detail as you like!!MANAGE THE PROCESS FOR YOU - if you are good then you will have several management consultancies interested in you, the recruitment processes may move at different speeds, they can manage the scheduling of interviews so that you can complete process and select the option that is best for you.NEGOTIATE THE BEST DEAL FOR YOU - They know your market rate, they can help!HELP YOU SELECT - In most cases if you leave early into employment the recruitment consultant doesn’t get paid. It is in their best interest to ensure that you select the best offer for you, one that matches everything you are looking for (money, progression, sector focus, location, training, whatever it may be), they will work in partnership with you to help you select the right role. Why? Because that's our job, you feel happy, you will speak well of us (let's face it, ours is a networking business too), you will recommend your friends, pass business our way and you will come back to us when you are ready for your next career move.I will refrain from using my company, this is not a cheap advertising ploy, but I will tell you that our motto is "Our Knowledge, Your Potential", and I hope that you can see why.Good luck with your next career move. Genene 02073240532

Does anyone else find it mildly amusing how the recruiters, who allege not to be on this site to promote their business, always leave their numbers at the end of posts?

What is the career progression of a recruiter? Do they start as car salesmen, move up to mobile phones, reach the lofty peaks of flogging homes and finally reach the giddy heights of recruitment agents? Once you've excelled at recruitment, do you get promoted and begin selling timeshares?

Anon - You are a total idiot. Get back to the work that you have been pimped out to do.Plagued by cold callers - Take your CV off the web and the calls will stop.

Rec Consultant, why don't you leave your phone number so we can discuss job opportunities. LOL!

We have the answer...'Get back to the work that you have been pimped out to do' hey Rec Consultant?!Showing some real respect for your client base. Recruitment consultants occupy the ultimate middle-man position, preying on the fact that recruiters are often lazy/overworked and applicants are very often desperate but to lazy to do research for themselves.If we all stopped using them they'd have to take their dodgy ties back to the Phones4U shop floor!Leaches.

I totally disagree - our ties are not dodgy.

Guys come on, granted some recruiters are dodgy and unprofessional (as in any industry)however the majority do a very good job. Most of us are well educated and smartly dressed!!Consultancies do need us as we provide a services that takes a whole load of pressure off the directors/partners. HR functions in consultancies simply do not understand the commercial side of their jobs where as we do. I am guessing that the negative threads here are posted by guys who have either been rejected by recruiters or have dealt withsome of the dody ones.

(I made the posts about leaving phone numbers and the 'career' progression)Much of what I said was in jest and was merely done to provoke a reaction. the truth is I find most recruiters awful as they have to be harassed to show any interested and then they put clients forward for inapproriate positions. Having said that, I have met some recruiters who have been great, but they are few and far between.

I can confirm though it's still the case that the largest consulting firms source >50% of their new consulting hires through recruitment agencies and headhunters.The reasons for this - and why this will continue to be true - are wide and varied. But the implication for consultants is that it is:- always good to take recruitment consultants' calls and treat them with the courtesy you would like to be treated with yourself. You never know when that recruitment agency will be looking to hire staff for your dream employer. How gutting would it be to not get a job you aspire to in the future because you'd been rude to the recruitment consultant handling that case at some point in the past?!- always good to be selective about those that you allow to represent you since (like in most sales-oriented industries) there are good eggs and bad eggs and you only want the really professional consultants to be representing you to potential employers.There are bad estate agents, bad car salespeople, bad financial advisors and bad management consultants. But to tar all with the same brush does do the honest majority a disservice.Tony RestellTop-Consultant.com