This person cleans up your mess for $8.50

I had a vague understanding that we ‘had a cleaner’, but I took that service for granted, and certainly gave the person who cleaned up our mess little thought. I have always considered Australia a highly evolved industrial democracy, with many laws protecting people from exploitation, but as I dug deeper, the more shocked I became.

Posted by Greg Savage
On May 28, 2013
44 Comments

Into Africa. A recruiting safari.

Today is the last day of the ‘relaxing’ part of my trip to South Africa, and I write to you from the magnificent Delaire Graff estate just outside Stellenbosch, in the Cape Wine lands. But tomorrow it’s D-day. Day one of the Savage Truth Tour of South Africa, kicking off in Cape Town with a 3-hour seminar.

Posted by Greg Savage
On May 6, 2013
3 Comments

Need to fire a deadbeat client? Here’s how. In 7 steps.

Last week I argued that service providers need to fire clients who are uncooperative or unprofitable. Plenty of 'The Savage Truth’ readers agreed, but many asked, “How do I actually do it?”. And the truth is that it is not easy. But there are two guiding principals I have found are fundamental for this to work out well.

Posted by Greg Savage
On February 20, 2013
9 Comments

When your client says “send me the résumé”….you say this!

The fact is you make a placement only if your candidate gets an interview. So your job as a recruiter is so much more than sourcing the talent and making the match. As important as they are, it’s all a waste of time if you don’t get your candidate sitting opposite your client. And so […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On November 27, 2012
27 Comments

Are you ‘client-flabby’ or are you ‘client-fit’?

Recruiters often complain about the fickleness of clients. Clients don’t return our calls, they don’t give commitment, and they don’t follow through. Often true. But, is it always the client’s fault? Does the relationship flounder because you don’t put in the effort you should? Indeed, do you commit the cardinal sin of slipping into ‘chronic […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On February 7, 2012
17 Comments

HR and internal recruiters, YOU need to lift your game too

There has been a great deal of criticism of Agency recruiters lately, quite a bit of it from me. But a recent theme is emerging where Corporate HR managers and internal recruiters have launched some scathing attacks on the process followed by recruiters.Truthfully, many of these criticisms are valid. As an industry we are guilty […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On May 25, 2011
43 Comments

Good clients don’t only want resumes, they want insights!

Great recruiters need to understand their industry, their company, the competition, and the business environment for the types of people they place. You need to be a mile deep and an inch wide! I find that recruiters are easily seduced. In fact, truthfully we can be a bit tarty. A client wants help with a […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On February 16, 2011
6 Comments

The amazing day our client put the placement fee UP to 60%!

Regular readers of my blog will know that I have predicted for some time that clients will expect more from recruiters as the market recovers. I have said that we can expect pressure on our fees, particularly as employers invest in other ways to access talent. But it’s also true that market forces will prevail. […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On November 30, 2010
3 Comments

Client wants a discount? Don’t talk dollars, talk value

It’s a fact of recruiting life that clients will push you to negotiate your fees. And with so many recruiters quick to drop fee percentages to secure briefs, that can be a hard discussion to deal with. The starting point for successful fee negotiations is, strangely enough, to get the conversation off the fee percentage, […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On October 19, 2010
8 Comments

Recruiters please, shut up and listen!

We are often told that recruitment is a sales job. And it is. But the truth of selling is badly misunderstood. Selling in old-style recruitment means volume of calls, pleading for client visits, and pushing people into jobs where maybe the fit is dubious, at best. But in fact the real selling in staffing is […]

Posted by Greg Savage
On May 30, 2010
7 Comments

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