Despite the term, it's not some Orwellian mind game recruiters secretly play with their candidates. It’s about having a handle on the recruitment process as a whole. With the market leaning fully in favour of candidates, recruiters need to be offering the best candidate experience to bat off the competition.

Why should they use you?

In a candidate driven market where recruiters are vying for deals, what elevates them above the crowd? Establish who you are, how you work, and what YOU can do for them.

Draw out some timescales and always act on your promises. Good reference points will breed further business.

Know your candidate not just their skillset

Whether they are technically capable to fill a role is not enough - it’s only scraping the surface. Recruiters need to know if location will be an issue, If any personal or professional reasons might conflict with the role and if the pay is enough, and if it's not, what the wiggle room is.

Understanding the motivations behind a candidate and their hierarchy will save everyone's time and allow you to deliver a better service.

It’s simply a way of recruiting with your eyes open. It’s a lot easier to find what a candidate is looking for once you know what they want from life and what drives them forward. Discovering your candidate’s motivations is all about knowing the right questions to ask to get the answers you need.

Communication is key

Maintaining communication with your candidates is paramount during the recruitment process, bad news is always better than no news in recruitment. Keep a continued presence in your network and update your candidates on suitable roles.

Get out from behind your phone and actually go meet your candidates, go for a drink, just make sure you pick up the bill.

Manners are free

It should be a given that the cordial recruiter that treats their candidates with respect will get better results than the recruiter that doesn’t.

Sometimes candidates can feel like cattle being herded because of pushy recruiters that see them as commission, so good manners can hide that fact.

Never assume

Try to narrow the margin of chance so that you are in control of what’s going on and not recruiting with your fingers crossed. Everyone know the old adage about what assuming does.

Prep your candidate

Before interviews give your candidate a call and ensure they’re fully prepared. Not only will they appreciate it, but you can get an insight into their interest for the role.

A prepared candidate will reflect better on you as every candidate is essentially an extension of your agency.

Give feedback

Provide feedback regardless of if they were successful or not. While a candidate may not be suitable for this position it doesn’t mean they won’t be for the next.

Remember that today's candidate may very well turn out to be tomorrow's client.

Always be closing

The trial close, assumptive close, and assertive close to name a few. With every point of contact recruiters should be building to a close - a deal is made long before a candidate formally signs.

Time kills deals

It’s a valuable commodity so don’t waste your candidate’s time. If a candidate is stalling when making a decision the opportunity will move on. Make sure a candidate’s if a candidate's delaying you know why.

Ensure a good candidate experience

Reputation is a free and effective marketing tool, but can swing both ways. A poor candidate experience could hamper future business, while a satisfied candidate will give you free recommendation. 

About:

Calum is the Content & Marketing Executive for Sonovate, a disruptor to the banks, transforming the way recruitment agencies fund and manage contractors. Find similar recruitment content at www.sonovate.com/blog or follow @Calum551