How Would You Grade Your TE Trading Partners?
It’s no secret that we like to grade things around here (Exhibit A and Exhibit B). One reason is that it’s fun. Another reason is that I received a dual degree in education . . . that I never actually used. Another third reason is that grading things dovetails nicely with our poll questions in the Members’ Area.
Speaking of grading things and the Members’ Area, we recently conducted a poll of the Network membership. And that poll involved the following question (drum roll, please):
Which overall grade would you give your TE trading partners?
Results:
The choice of answers that were provided is listed below, along with the percentage of recruiters who selected each answer:
- A — 34.6%
- B — 31.8%
- C — 20.6%
- D — 7.5%
- F — 1.9%
- I have no trading partners yet — 3.7%
Summary:
Okay, first for the good news: approximately a third of poll participants (34.6%) gave their Trading Partners a grade of “A.” In addition, nearly as many recruiters (31.8%) chose “B” as their answer.
Now for the less-than-good news: one-fifth of Network recruiters (20.6%) indicated that their Trading Partners are average, assigning them a grade of “C.” However, that’s still better than the 7.5% that chose “D” and the 1.9% that selected “F.” (Those are low numbers, to be sure, but it would be better if they didn’t even exist.)
It should be noted that another 3.7% chose “I have no trading partners yet” as their answer. Hopefully, these are relatively new Network members . . .
Analysis and Conclusion:
Obviously, it would be great if everybody in the Network gave their TE trading partners a grade of “A.” That, of course, is not feasible. People are people. No matter how much you like your TE trading partners and no matter how many placements you make with them, you’re not going to be 100% in love with everything they do.
And that’s okay. After all, less than 10% of the recruiters participating in the poll gave their TE trading partners a grade of “D” or lower. We strive to make sure that every Network recruiter has a great experience, and the results of this poll are evidence of that.
I appreciated the transparency of TEN including this article and what seems to be an always positive approach always.
A good recruiter will know what search orders are “A” jobs, “B” jobs, etc. I would submit that the same applies to the split relationships with recruiters. There are already 2 or 3 recruiters that I know by name that I will not respond to as they seem to be MIA once they post a job.
I almost think that this is not acceptable as part of our “code of conduct” to be a part of TEN. I don’t have an exact solution however I would love to see us keep attacking this issue. Silly enough but maybe even a scoring system on responsiveness. Not necessarily quality of candidates but simply rather, a recruiter’s record of response to other TEN members.
Thanks!