The title of this blog is entirely in honour of my colleague Alex, who wanted something appropriate for Halloween.
However, the content is relevant all year round. Recruitment is a “numbers game”, it’s a “people business” too and did you know that your “candidate can also be your client”. All total cliques that are absolutely true. Basically when it comes to making money (agencies) or filing those roles (corporate’s) you really need to keep a LOT of job seekers on side to succeed.
Here are four ways I think recruiters miss a trick when dealing with candidates
Not giving feedback
This has got to be the NUMBER ONE complaint about recruiters. If you’re an agency recruiter working with a client who won’t give you feedback on a candidate they’ve interviewed then ditch that client. Don’t get me wrong I really hated giving negative feedback when I was a recruiter and I probably cried more than the candidates but I always always did it. If you don’t know how to give feedback check out this useful debrief form and if you have a client who doesn’t know how to give you the feedback to pass on suggest they read Giving feedback after job interviews.
Lying
All the time we see candidates complain that recruiters are posting non existent jobs – honestly why would you when you can find everyone in the whole working world by doing a few simple LinkedIn searches 😉 So, assuming that this isn’t a crime you’re committing – what are you being untruthful about? The salary the client will stretch to, the amount of overseas travel, how many other candidates are in the frame or one of these Top Five Recruiter “Lies”? I have to admit I did used to use number five quite a lot myself… But anyway, please don’t.
Not returning calls
Recruitment is a relationship business. Return calls to clients, candidates, possible candidates. Don’t feel you have to do any of the non urgent ones during your peak “sales time” but do please call people back. Many recruiters say “if it’s important they’ll call back” – well let’s hope so! Want to know the importance of returning calls? In the long term, honestly, you will be remembered for manners such as these.
Not understand the sector in which you hire
Number one tip really for being a successful recruiter is to pick a niche and to totally own it. How do you expect to know which are the best candidates if you don’t actually understand what the vacancy entails! If you want to know how check out my article on How to Become a Niche Recruiting Ninja.
There are a ton more “rules” and skills to recruitment (check out the articles we run in our weekly newsletter for some major tips) but mastering these basics will not only help you earn more money but feel great about it!
