Words by Laurence Reymann of YPI CREW

There are two sides to every story and, as a recruiter, Laurence Reymann has an insider's perspective of the recruitment process. She shares her opinions and tells captains how to get the most out of the recruitment agencies.

I take great pleasure in contributing to this special issue of The Crew Report; a new format, a new formula, at a time when the yachting industry itself is evolving and coming of age.

My own journey as a recruiter has been interesting. It has been 10 years since I started YPI CREW and I have not had a dull moment. A stroll through our Mediterranean ports, where bigger and bigger yachts are berthed, will attest to the vitality of the yachting industry. Like any growing industry, yachting is dynamic with a continuous quest for increased professionalism because, ultimately, it is this that will ensure our collective perennity. So, in this world of exponential changes, what does professionalism mean? How do we all get better at what we do? How do we, as recruiters, get better at finding the right crew for the right job and vice versa? How does a client get the best from the recruitment agency? What type of agency relationship do you want to develop as a client or candidate? How do crew get better at finding jobs and making the right impression? How do captains get better at interviewing crew?

The above is a vast and varied subject and, as we all know, there is always room for improvement. I cringed as I wrote that last sentence, but it's a comment that applies to all levels. While I cannot develop all of these interesting questions now, I would like to engage on the subject of recruiters and how to get the best from us when looking for crew. We are no different from anybody else, we like to do our job well and like to know we make a positive difference by solving a problem, in our case a recruitment problem.

While a bit of competition between a couple of agencies can be healthy, the often silly race between a large number of agencies for who sends a CV first is counter-productive and serves no purpose, certainly not for the captain who loses on several fronts. He will waste an enormous amount of time reading many irrelevant CVs and contacting uninterested candidates; some recruiters resort to emailing vast numbers of CVs, most of them of candidates who do not match the brief, are not suitable and not available, just in the hope that perhaps the "successful" candidate is somewhere in the pile.

The client not only wastes time (and I am not even talking about the time spent over the phone repeating themselves to various recruiters), but also gets little value for money, as they have done most of the work the recruiter should have done, which is compiling a qualified and workable shortlist. Building a good shortlist takes time and it involves research and communication. The time a recruiter takes to do his or her job professionally is time a client saves to get on with a busy day. The best way to obtain the recruiter's full professional attention, which allows her or him to assist you to solve a recruitment problem, is to work with a small number of partners with whom you develop a relationship of trust and who know they must deliver; the recruiters get to know you and what type of crew you are looking for.

It's a win-win situation; it's professional. it's recruitment.