I was intrigued by the headline in a recent article on Recruiter’s website: ‘Energy, the new finance?’ (recruiter.co.uk, 20 March). I say intrigued; that’s perhaps a bit of an understatement. Actually, I was livid.

While I’m all for candidates taking transferable skills to the energy sector - a trend I have been encouraging the industry to embrace for some time - the piece also suggested that recruitment consultancies were switching sectors and bolting on energy divisions.

In my view, energy is not and should not be the new finance - just as e-commerce wasn’t the new finance during the dotcom boom in the late 1990s. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop lots of recruiters from jumping on the bandwagon and suddenly becoming e-commerce recruitment experts - but where are they now? I would hazard a guess that those who are still around are the ones who were specialising before the boom.

As an industry, we still unfortunately get our fair share of criticism about professionalism and standards, and are constantly trying to shrug off the ‘bums on seats’ mentality that a few bad apples tar the rest of the industry with. One of the benefits of being a niche recruiter - and the value-add to the client - is the level of understanding that one has about the organisations, candidates and the sector as a whole.
As an energy recruiter with over a decade of experience, I pride myself on knowing the sector inside out - not just the types of clients and candidates within the industry but the political and legislative context in which they operate.

I’m not afraid of competition but I do take exception to the dumbing down of a niche area by opportunists who think they can make a quick buck by hanging on the coat tails of the real specialists. I’m sure some recruiters will make money. They’ll come across the right candidate, offer them up at a reduced fee and very possibly make the placement. Is that professional recruitment? Not in my book!

Neil Daly, Director, Hamilton Consultants