Recruiters: What can you do to make candidate placement a reality?

If you have been in the recruiting business long enough, you most likely have experienced it too. I am talking about rejections made by candidates at the end of the recruiting process; after you have been through all the screening, interviews and negotiations leading to employer’s job offer.  This can be very upsetting to all parties involved.  The fact is that the way you handle the recruiting process up-front will definitely affect the end results.  Here are a few tips to help reduce the possibility of this happening to you!

1. Understand the candidate’s situation up-front:

Candidates don’t just want a new job because they saw your post, they probably   had thought about it at some point or another, long before you approached them.  Remember that the job is a means to an end, and not the end itself.  Finding out what the candidate wants up-front will make it possible for you to make sure that those needs are met by the position you are offering.  You want to know if they are happy or unhappy in their current position.  If they are happy, what can move them; and if they are not, are they ready to move, but not finding the right position.   Your questions should probe at issues that may not be visible on the surface, such as whether the candidate is disgruntled, feels under-compensated, is not adequately challenged, needs opportunities for growth or even whether they have personal or family issues that may cause them to consider the opportunity that you are presenting. If your position cannot meet the candidate’s material needs, then don’t bank on their accepting the job-offer.

2.  Discuss the possibility of their current organization making a counter-offer up-front:

Some employers never see the value of their own employees until a competitor makes an attempt to hire them.  Such employers will quickly offer to pay the employee their market worth and even more, just to temporarily distract that employee from accepting another job.  The unfortunate thing is that most counter-offers are not offered sincerely, since the employer being aware that the candidate is prepared to leave the organization, may start to search for a replacement for this employee.   It is understood in the industry that counter-offers make it possible for an employer to stall an employee’s departure while they find someone else to replace them.  Where the employee is not replaced by the employer, they typically are still gone within a year, because the environment may become hostile since employer and co-workers now view them as disloyal. Also, the employer may still believe that the employee is still actively searching for a new position and may take away certain responsibilities from them.  Finally, the employer may not have addressed the issues that made employee attempt to leave initially.

If a recruiter is smart enough to enlighten their candidate about counter-offers pro-actively, the candidate is most likely not to accept one.

3.  If the candidate’s new job requires relocation, make sure that the candidate’s significant other is in agreement with the candidate about this:

There is nothing as heart-wrenching as learning from your candidate at the last minute that the reason they cannot accept the job-offer is because their spouse is opposed to relocation.  As a recruiter, you should be aware of this up-front and you should be working with the spouse, to dispel all fears that they may have about making the move, and offering all possible help.

4.  Keep communications between you and the candidate fluid throughout the recruiting process:

It is of utmost importance that you keep in communication with the candidate throughout the recruiting process.  Sometimes employers may have a lengthy decision-making process, which keeps everyone involved in the loop.  When finally they make an offer, the candidate may have accepted an offer elsewhere.  By keeping in communication with the candidate you keep up a certain level of the candidate’s trust, the candidate knows where you are with things, and you know what the candidate is up to.

The most effective strategies in recruiting are proactive.  Recruiters have to anticipate the outcome in most situations, and take defined steps to determine that the end-results they get are the end results they desire. As you can see, this also applies here.  If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to hear from you.