Often people outside recruitment like to mock the industry.

Usually deeply ill-informed, it’s still not fun to be on the receiving end.

However, there is a widespread phrase used by many inside recruitment, which undermines everything we do.

It’s a throwaway line. Breezy and easy and, on the surface not offensive, or even controversial.

I have used it myself. But not anymore. Ever.

Because it is dumb!

Recruiters who say it are foolish because it belittles their job and diminishes the value of what they do.

The recruiter who spouts this phrase does not have a clue as to what a complex, nuanced, and hard-to-master career they have chosen.

So, it’s an ignorant thing to say;

“Recruitment. It’s not rocket science.”

LOL!

Of course, that statement is true. It’s not rocket science.

But we are not building fucking rockets, are we?

So, who cares if it’s not rocket science?

Writing a rock song that people love and sells millions is not rocket science.

Making a hundred before lunch at the SCG in a Test match is not rocket science.

Giving a compelling speech in front of a thousand people and holding their attention for 2 hours is not rocket science.

But no one reading this blog has done any of those things. Have you?

Raising and bringing up children is not rocket science. Likewise, overcoming addiction is not rocket science, is it?

Plenty of readers of this article are struggling with those challenges right now. Easy, is it?

Blithely dismissing recruitment as ‘not rocket science’ is idiotic.

It suggests that being a recruiter is straightforward—child’s play.

Anyone can do it. Requires no skills or intelligence.

Really?

It misses the all-too-obvious point that being a recruiter, especially an agency recruiter, is relentlessly demanding. Doing this job well,  is an intricate blend of art and science. It requires the highest level of emotional intelligence, and it demands the most evolved questioning, consulting, and advising skills. In addition, it requires sophisticated human influencing skills, which are essentially the most challenging skills of all to master.

Why do 80% of new entrants to our industry fail and leave within two years if recruitment were so easy? 80 %!

So, it’s a dumb thing to say, but it’s also profoundly self-sabotaging.

Why? Because the foundation to success in our industry is self-belief.

And from self-belief flows credibility.

And credibility is the critical foundation upon which any consultative recruiter builds their expertise and their career.

So, stand proud, my recruiting friends!

Don’t mock your own chosen path.

Go the other way.

Treat recruitment as the fantastic career it is and strive for continuous learning that increases the value you bring to candidates and clients and delivers you the self-esteem, fun, and money that hard work in an important job deserves.

Stare down your gloating lawyer and banker mates in the pub who seek to belittle what you do. Remind them that they take money to defend criminals they know are guilty of heinous crimes. And, in the case of the bankers, they actually might be criminals themselves as far as we know! (No one in finance ever broke the law, right?)

What recruiters do is inherently good. We find people jobs that enhance their careers, and we support companies as they search for skills that drive their growth and progress.

It’s an exceptionally challenging job that requires a heady mix of hard work, subtle influencing skills, and incredible logistical mastery.

In fact, how about this?

Let’s imagine a kind of “Squid Game”

You must pick ten recruiters (three years experience) or ten rocket scientists, to ‘Recruit for your life‘. The highest billing group in three months wins. And lives! You know what happens to the losing group.

Which group would you choose?

The skilled recruiters? Or the ultra-smart geeky rocket scientists?

Take your time.

It is only your life at stake.

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It’s not life and death but The Savage Recruitment Academy may just be a career saver for many recruiters. We have over 1,000 subscribers now

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