Bechtle UK criticised for controversial hiring practice

The IT services provider came under fire online for prioritising Russell Group university candidates, MD James Napp assures this is not company policy, while channel recruiters weigh in

Bechtle UK has faced criticism online for appearing to prioritise job candidates from Russell Group universities.

An email rejecting a candidate’s application to the channel partner’s graduate scheme was shared on LinkedIn.

The feedback stated that while the company liked the applicant’s responses, “they were prioritising candidates from Russell Group universities.”

This response has come under fire from commentators on LinkedIn for reinforcing an “elitist class system” and “destroying” the aspirations of those from deprived areas, being described as “awful” and “appalling”.

Bechtle UK managing director James Napp tells CRN this is not the standard for the service provider’s recruitment process.

“From a non-Russell Group university myself, I can state very clearly that the content of the reply absolutely does not represent Bechtle UK policy,” Napp says.

“It was perhaps an awkward attempt by one of our London-based internal recruiters at trying to let someone down who either didn’t meet the requirements in some way or where other candidates were simply a better overall fit.

“There is no stipulation for any kind of degree at Bechtle and some of our most successful colleagues joined us directly from school, from college or on one of our apprenticeship schemes.”

Napp added Bechtle UK has a “hugely diverse workforce” and states it is “the polar opposite of ‘elitist’”.

“We have already moved swiftly to address this internally– clearly some re-training is required – and committed to ensuring that we review independently recently rejected candidates.

“I am confident this will only strengthen our approach in the future and that we will continue to recruit people from all walks of life successfully across the UK to support our continued growth. We have already written to the candidate concerned to offer an apology and offer to review their application again should they wish.”

CRN reached out to specialist channel recruiters for their view.

“I think it's important of course that all employers from the channel include everyone,” sayd Zoe Chatley, founder & CEO of The Channel Recruiter.

“Personally, if we were working graduate roles and a company told us they would only consider graduates from certain universities, we would push back on this or not work the vacancies.

“We recently did some grad recruitment for a corporate outside the channel as a one off. They specifically sent a list of their ‘top 30’ universities that they wanted candidates to come from. Whilst we agreed to do this, we also sent them strong candidates who did not come from that top 30 list and several candidates were placed successfully.

“As recruiters, whether internal or external, our job is to find the best candidates for the job. Therefore all candidates should be considered no matter what university they came from/ background/ age/sex etc.

“What we still see more than anything across the IT channel is ageism, and again we revert back to, our job is to find the best candidate for the job.”

Meanwhile, Marc Sumner, CEO, Robertson & Sumner, says he hasn’t come across a preference for elite universities for some years.

“Looking back ten years ago, pre-inclusive initiatives, you might have had someone looking for candidates from red brick universities,” he tells CRN.

“But not in the last five years. No one’s talking about that at all.

“The talent shortage is so tough, if channel partners started making stipulations on whether candidates have first class degrees or not, we wouldn't have anyone on the shortlist.

“There's not enough talent for all these companies to make those stipulations anymore.”

Sumner adds he recently spoke with a Top VAR who said their recruitment for certain roles is CV-less, so they don't discriminate.

He adds this is a growing trend.

“I think it's a very good point for entry level people to come in and just perform on the day and to see if they've got the rapport building skills and to be able to do the interview fairly.