James Caan: Paying for the chance to work is not on

James Caan: Paying for the chance to work is not on

25.1.2010

In his Daily Telegraph column this week, James Caan helps a jobseeker to realise why recruitment agencies are not permitted to charge candidates to use their services, and why the opportunities for executive level candidates now using the internet are on the up*.

The webrecruit chairman wrote: “Fundamentally, I believe it is unethical for an agency to charge a candidate. I also understand that it's against the regulations. But let's toy with this proposed the idea for a second. Would candidates be in a better situation?

“In one word, no. We operate in a market that respects supply and demand; the reality at present is that there are more people than jobs. And how much would a jobseeker have to pay? Surely it would be unfair for a recruiter to charge a candidate a percentage of their salary? And what about those who couldn't pay for the service? They'd never even enter the jobs market”.

The Dragons’ Den star also advised that it’s not all bad news, due to the executive market seeing a number of attractive job-seeking avenues gain momentum this year, notably executive job boards.

“Executive jobseekers are increasingly using the internet to tap into the jobs market. Just typing in keywords into Google will provide a number of job boards catering specifically to this market. These boards advertise vacancies with salaries of £50,000 and above, and will put you in touch with a number of great employers specifically looking for your skill set”.


*To read this article in full, as featured on the Daily Telegraph website, click here.

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