Hello again my dear readers ?
If in previous articles I have chosen my focus to be on my experiences in customer relations, today I would like to share some of the things I apply in order to build a reliable and lasting relationship with my candidates. So, in the following I will tell you some of the things that I care about, that I turn to and that I trust that can bring me the results that I want, namely the development of a trusting relationship with the candidates.
Next I will discuss the identification of the needs that the candidate has, the importance of direct and honest communication in relation to them, as well as the importance of feedback, both during the recruitment process and after it.
One of the most important things is the real interest in the needs of the candidates – for some time I tried a different approach in the first direct discussions with the candidates (I mean here the telephone ones, on skype or face to face discussions). More specifically, before any presentation of the job, of the company, I want to discover what the candidate wants from the company that I represent or from the role that I want to present to him.
Before any presentation of the job, of the company, I want to discover what the candidate wants from the company that I represent or from the role that I want to present to him.
I’m interested in what the company/role looks like, what needs they should satisfy him so that he is interested and willing to make a change. Depending on what he tells me is important to him, I present to him the role I contacted him for. Of course, the description of the role I will do, beyond his general presentation, pointing to the extent to which it can bring him what he wants.
Direct and honest communication – we all know that this criterion is a very important one in any type of human interaction and certainly does not need very many explanations. What I want to point out is the importance of honesty in communicating with the candidate. Referring to the above point, there are situations in which we know from the beginning that the job we want to present cannot fully satisfy his needs. Such things need to be said from the beginning and if the candidate wants to continue the recruitment process, he will do it responsible, which is very important. Moreover, the confidence he has in you as a recruiter will increase considerably. Of course, there is a situation where he will withdraw from the process. Even in this situation, you will win. What did you win? The candidate’s confidence in you. Another aspect that I think about when it comes to honest communication with the candidate is related to the recruitment process itself. Often, we as recruiters do not have all the necessary data and all the technical information that the candidates need. If we do this from this outset, they will be informed of this and the chances of being upset in the first discussion by the lack of technical information will be much lower. Instead, the chances of being able to create a relationship based on trust will be greater.
Feedback – for candidates and beyond, feedback is very important. It is as important the feedback we give during the interview as the feedback after the completion of the recruitment process. In the following I would like to talk about the feedback during the discussion with the candidate. It happens very often that in the first discussion / interview to be brought up the financial side. There are a lot of situations where I’m told by the candidates that the financial side is the reason they want a change, which is normal. Instead, I know that a change made only on a financial, long-term basis is not a lasting one and none that can bring the intrinsic satisfactions that almost anyone wants.
Change made only on a financial, long-term basis is not a lasting one and none that can bring the intrinsic satisfactions that almost anyone wants.
That’s exactly what I’m telling the candidates. What I like is that most of the time I get a reaction or rather a more complex answer, an answer in which besides the financial side are mentioned other things more personal and important to them. That’s exactly what I want and what I can use in the recruitment process. Definitely, as I said above, regardless of the feedback at the end of the recruitment process, it must be transmitted. Definitely, in the event of a negative response, it should not be received as an end but as a beginning of a lasting and reliable relationship with the candidate.
Our role as a recruiter is to be able to build a reliable and lasting relationship between us and the candidates, so that later the candidate’s confidence in us can be projected into the relationship between him and our client.
I’m Teodora Tus, Operations Manager at AMS Human Resources and I love my job… At the same time, I love my candidates!