One of the main reasons I set up Mason Alexander was that I saw the recruitment sector had become very reliant on technology with the likes of LinkedIn, job boards and the ability to blast out a thousand emails with a click of a button. In one sense, this made recruitment a lot easier (and cheaper) but also a lot less skillful; and for me, a lot less exciting.

I have to admit, that I am a bit archaic when it comes to technology although I understand the importance of a website and an online profile like LinkedIn. Every week you see companies create quicker, faster ways to recruit by using algorithms to match CV’s and job specs. And whilst I have no doubt they do this with earnest and an ambition to be disruptive, they really miss what the value of recruitment is.

The easiest part of my job is finding CV’s and profiles for a role. The hard part is trying to decipher which of those people are right for the position I am working on – personality, culture fit, commercial nous, business acumen etc.. (and these will change depending on the job). But you then have to “sell” the opportunity to the person, which takes skill and the art of persuasion. I am yet to see a job spec that looks interesting (unless it was to play up front for Man Utd!) so circulating a job spec to people you don’t know won’t prove very fruitful. You then have to manage the interview process – preparing candidates for interview, managing clients expectations, salary negations, counter offers – the list goes on.

As someone who has a LinkedIn profile, I am also fully aware the amount of spam that gets sent around to people’s inboxes. It has become nearly irritating and also extremely ineffective if you are looking to discuss a business opportunity with someone.

For me, I would much rather be face to face with somebody, to build trust and a relationship with them, to understand their motivations / drivers and to be able to use my experience to help them. It is more rewarding and certainly more exciting and if you are not challenging yourself intellectually, you cannot enjoy what you do. Anyone can click a button and send thousands of emails across the internet.

I once read something that really struck a chord with me – “Observe the masses and then do the opposite”. In this world of technology, recruitment shouldn’t lose sight of what it is, a human capital business. At Mason Alexander, we continue to maintain a people led approach and I am sure that the companies and people we deal with, would agree that they benefit from this method.

Andrew Lynch