The Number 1 rule

The Number 1 rule at OX Seven – ‘we only work with companies our candidates would love to work for’.

The above statement can’t be emphasised enough really.  When building a portfolio of clients we believe it is vital that you do your due diligence and qualify them before entering into a business relationship.  An extremely important part of the process involves us visiting their offices.  This helps massively when understanding the company’s culture and working environment.  In our experience the knowledge gained from these visits pays off ten-fold when trying to source the best possible candidates, and maintaining long-term partnerships.

We do get objections from time to time when we suggest meeting up.  Responses such as the following do rear their head on occasion; ‘Sorry, we are not meeting with recruiters at present, but like I said please do send through suitable candidates.’  For us this creates a bit of a cause for concern.  We believe we cannot provide the highest level of service if we haven’t had the opportunity to look at the company’s set up, including its hierarchal structure, site location and atmosphere.  It’s completely understandable that there are time constraints which could preclude businesses from meeting with us, but to rule it out altogether can result in the recruitment process not running as smoothly as it would do otherwise.  It is no coincidence that our highest success rate for filling roles is with client’s we have been able to visit and talk to face to face.

Recently I was directed to a company website to look at their careers page and get an overview of the job descriptions for available positions.  While the descriptions were of a good quality it was still difficult to visualise what the day to day would be like, how the candidate would fit into the business, and most importantly where they would need to go to have a tea or coffee.  In my view these difficulties could have been easily ironed out with a quick 20 minute meet and greet.

So while I don’t believe I have all of the answers when it comes to recruitment, I do believe that OX Seven’s number 1 rule is hard to argue with – and this can only be enhanced if you let us pop in for a quick chat.