Change of career for veteran recruitment specialist

By ADAM GIFFORD

Veteran recruitment specialist Doug White has quit Spherion, the company he sold Wilson White to a year ago.

Mr White says after 20 years in the business, it is time for a career change - after he has built a house
on the shores of Lake Pupuke.

"It was done very amicably. Both parties came out of it feeling good. I enjoyed working with Spherion and could go back if I want," Mr White says.

But he says the past year has been frustrating at times.

"Spherion is a huge multinational and the way a multinational does stuff is different from the way a New Zealand 25-person company does things. There were huge differences and it took time to get used to that."

While Mr White had a two-year contract with the new owners, the first anniversary gave him an opportunity to negotiate an early departure.

The reasons for selling his company - to tap into international networks and also to bring to the business Spherion's preferred supplier agreements with multinational companies - remain valid.

Mr White says while technology and, in particular, the internet have brought huge changes to the recruitment industry, the basics remain the same.

"You need to know the client well and that usually takes time and effort. A big part of successfully
recruiting is matching the personality of the candidate to the organisation and you can't do that through
the net.

"If the person who walks in the door is a ballet dancer, they may not work well with the coach of the local rugby team. That means to do the job properly you have to know the candidate as well.

"There are companies today who try to do it all over the internet and the phone, and they never meet the client or the candidate."

It is not surprising then, he says, that turnover in IT jobs can be high. Recruitment companies increasingly rely on the internet to source potential candidates and most run web sites where people can post resumes and look for likely jobs. Companies also use the web to fill positions.

"The problem is when an organisation posts its vacancy on the web and gets 50 or 100 applicants. You still have to wade through all those applications, you still have to interview," Mr White says.

"The recruitment company cuts through the garbage and presents two or three resumes, saving the person doing the employing an enormous amount of time."

He says a good recruiter is a good sales person.

"You don't need a particularly strong knowledge of IT, your role is assessing the requirements of the
organisation and matching the candidates."

Mr White still enjoys making placements, but over the past year has spent most of his time doing administration.

"I did do some work for an organisation in Australia. We didn't meet, so I spent a lot of time on the phone to find what their culture was, and eventually worked for over three months to find the right person."