Hi. My name’s Paul and I’m a recruit-aholic.
I have been in the recruitment game for a long time. In fact when I tell recruiters new to the industry that when I first started there was no internet, no email, no online job boards, no mobile phones,and no LinkedIn, the first thing they usually ask is “so how did you actually recruit“?
Quite amusing really. And that’s all a story for another time.
Sure times have changed. There have been phenomenal advancements in technology, and the industry has changed … dramatically. And I have been entrenched in the industry while all these changes have taken place around me. I have run temp desks, run perm desks, opened new divisions, managed small teams, managed large teams and offices, I’ve mentored recruiters, trained recruiters locally, nationally, and internationally, and I have spoken at industry forums all over the world.
So when I recently announced my involvement in RecruitLoop – a model which is sure to really shake up the industry – believe me when I say that I received some very strange looks and a barrage of emails along the lines of “How could you?“, “Why would you?” and “What the #$&% are you doing, Paul?“.
Well it’s quite simple actually.
For nearly two decades I have been an active ambassador for an amazing industry. But all the while I have also seen the cracks form around the edges primarily arising from the many frustrations expressed by the three key players in the so-called ‘recruitment love triangle‘ – the clients, the candidates and the consultants … the infamous three Cs!
The clients who are constantly crying highway robbery when being hit with an exorbitant fee for what they perceive is really just the result of a recruiter “whacking an ad up on a job board and then flicking through some CVs” (their words not mine);
The candidates who are feeling like they are just the “pawns on a chess board in a manipulative game where the recruiters are only hungry for their commission” (their words not mine); and
The consultants who more and more are feeling like they are taking part in a “résumé race where clients are playing recruiters off one another often just to see what talent is out there” (their words not mine).
Over the years I’ve had literally hundreds of clients ask if they could be invoiced on a transparent hourly rate and dozens of contingent recruiters ask me why they couldn’t get paid for all the effort they put in to the recruitment process. So when I first became aware of RecruitLoop’s model it was a no brainer.
Having spent my entire career immersed in the industry, for me the chance to now break away from the traditional model is very exciting. With a large proportion of business leaders not recommending the services of a traditional agency, and with smaller businesses having been priced out of the market for too long, I just felt the time was right to really shake things up a bit.
Rest assured I am well aware that recruitment is still all about relationships (or real-ationships as I like to refer to them). While we have some phenomenal technological offerings (such as online video interviews) and the ability to offer clients flexible and stress-free recruitment support, we know full well that it’s all about people. And we have some amazing highly experienced recruiters on board who all share the same values … I should know since I am here to look after our recruiter community!
Internally at RecruitLoop I am known as the ‘Recruitment Guru‘ and so I will be posting regularly on to our blog with the aim to educate, amuse, and enlighten anyone interested in (or with an active role in) recruitment and all that it entails … from all points on the recruitment love triangle. Feel free to comment, initiate discussion and let’s shake things up a bit!
Welcome to recruitment reinvented.
Author
Paul Slezak
With over two decades of experience in the recruitment and human capital industry, Paul Slezak has established himself as a transformative force in the realm of leadership and career coaching, group facilitation, and talent acquisition. His unique perspective, drawn from his early career as a leader in global recruitment firms and his entrepreneurial success with his own start-up, has enabled him to make a significant impact on leaders, teams, and organizations across the world. Paul's passion for helping others achieve success and high performance is evident in his commitment to transforming leaders and their teams at local, national, and international levels. He specializes in promoting the importance of human-centered intelligence, focusing on soft skills such as authenticity, transparency, and trust to complement business-centered acumen and drive better workplace outcomes. As an impartial facilitator, Paul brings his expertise to team offsites and strategy days, ensuring alignment on goals, values, and culture while keeping participants on task. His engaging and energetic presence, coupled with his unique "entertraining" and "edutaining" delivery style, enables him to connect with audiences both large and intimate, sharing personal and professional anecdotes that inspire and energize.
