I am a full life cycle recruiter so I like to stay on top of all the new sourcing techniques out there. Today I attended Geoff Peterson’s wonderfully informative, free webinar 30 Recruiting Strategies in a Downturn Economy. (Not sure "attended" is the correct word. What DO you call it when you sit at your desk and listen in?)

Geoff covered all kinds of techniques for using new media – Twitter, Facebook, podcasting, etc. to attract and source passive candidates. For more information about Geoff, check out his blog at http://www.staffbytes.com/ Afterwards I got to thinking that no matter how well you source, you have to take excellent care of your candidates to be a really successful recruiter.

Here are a few suggestions for showing your respect for your candidates:

Make a firm commitment to your candidate about when you will give them feedback (whether that is from an internal hiring manager or a client), and honor that commitment.

Don’t over commit. Sure, you would like to have an offer for the candidate tomorrow, but is that reasonable? Does the hiring manager typically get back to you that quickly? Build a cushion into the timeframe so you can exceed your candidate’s expectations. For example, if the hiring manager tells you will they have a decision by the end of the week, tell the candidate you will have news for them by the middle of next week.

If you don’t have feedback by the agreed upon date, contact your candidate anyway! Tell them you haven’t forgotten about them, but you just don’t have any news yet. Ask your candidate how they are doing and if anything has changed on their end. It is much better to admit that you don’t have feedback than to leave your candidate with the impression that you have forgotten about them, or they are not important enough to warrant a call from you.

Treat your candidates with respect and they will respect you and want to do business with you, now and in the future!