Placing successful candidates involves over 20 touchpoints

Here is something that should make those in a recruitment agency feel proud of what they do and genuinely value their service. At Cpl we took the last 500 placements that we made and analysed the contact with the candidates that we had placed. What was really interesting was that the average number of contacts with the successful candidate (defined as email contact or connected phone conversations) was 21 times. Naturally some of these candidates would have been spoken to over a 6 month period until we found the right role for them. However it does highlight the amount of connection and contact that a recruiter has with a candidate to get then placed. It also highlights that it is not just about sourcing the right candidate but there is a huge amount of work in selling, influencing, reassuring and giving feedback to the candidate. These 21 touchpoints are only with that candidate, there is of course potentially an equal amount of interactions with the client (and of course with all the unsuccessful candidates).

If anyone has read Glen Cathey’s recent post “Moneyball Recruting” they will know how big a role data has to play and companies who figure out how to collect and use human capital data successful will win the war for talent of the future. Our system now gives us great data on our candidates which is the basis of this blogpost, but the human element of looking for a new role, dipping your toe in the water, worrying about whether you are doing the right thing highlights the importance of the human interaction and not just once but as we have seen an average of twenty one times!

I have always joked that I never wanted to hire people to be recruiters who said they ‘love people’ as unfortunately in our business candidates and clients will often let you down and you need to be able to handle this. However it does show the power of connecting and the importance of human interaction to get that successful candidate across the line.

Roll on global recruitment databases, we are not just sourcers, we are sourcers, assessors, influencers, connectors and so much more.

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Comment by Tim Spagnola on October 26, 2011 at 3:27pm: Great post Peter- thank you for sharing. This type of data is so important to look at. I also love your hesitance in hiring 'I love people' individuals. As my wife reminds me- people will inherently let you down from time to time and you are correct in adding that not everyone can handle this working a desk.

Comment by Sandy Charet on October 27, 2011 at 10:09am: Great post. There is so much to say about the many contacts we have with the candidate throughout the process. It tells so much more about them. Good placements can be made or lost based on these conversations. Concerns can be uncovered and handled, little red flags can be picked up on. You get to learn more about what makes each candidate really special.
I try to explain this to clients that sometimes want to set up appointments with candidates directly. The constant 'touchpoints' with the candidate are vital!