With the recent slow-down in hiring (at least in my neck of the woods) I've begun to put a little extra effort into building upon my own processes for improving the candidate experience in my corporate role. One thing that I have noticed in my change from the third party to in-house is the difference in the priority given to building relationships with candidates.

As a third-party recruiter I found myself highly competent at creating and sustaining relationships with candidates who still to this day call me when looking for work. I thought that this ability would come in quite handy on the corporate side, but have noticed that from an in-house perspective these relationships are/should be managed differently and to a different end result.

I would really like to hear from other corporate recruiters on how they handle the relationship building process with their candidates, particularly those who have made the change from a third party role where building lasting relationships is necessary for the success of your business. Have you found yourself keeping a stranglehold on the relationship building part of the job, or have you found a way to balance the new goals and business models of in-house recruiting with the natural desire to build strong relationships? As far as candidate experience goes, should we focus on more of meaningful, but transactional type of communication, or is there still a place for building and nurturing a real, long term connection?

Let me know your thoughts…