1 common attribute for reputable recruiters

Most of us would agree that the recruitment industry took a battering in 2020. With a significant influx of candidates into the job market, a downturn in vacant roles and an onset of Covid / lockdown fatigue (don’t you just love home schooling ?!) the combination resulted in the recruitment sector finding itself in a never seen before situation. For those that survived and stayed in business, it has left many in the industry feeling tired and a little wrung out!

BUT does this combination of pressures, excuse poor engagement towards the very people who fuel their success?  In my regular calls with our own HR community, I am consistently hearing frustrations concerning lack of communication – calls not being returned, emails not being replied to, feedback not being given, lack of outreach and a general level of apathy when it comes to engagement and connectivity to agency recruiters, executive search specialists and in house talent acquisition teams.

Having worked in the recruitment industry for more years that I care to count I’ve learnt to accept that there have always been a few “bad apples” who have tarnished the profession and the recruiter reputations haven’t always the best for communications consistency - job seekers talk of getting lots of love from recruiters when they’re in a hiring process, and getting silence from their agencies or TA specialists otherwise. Whatever perceptions exist for recruiters, and whether those are rightly or wrongly deserved, I am sure that “dropping the ball” on communications during this extreme period of change and uncertainty, hasn’t helped the reputation for our industry one bit. The gap between great and average hiring “professionals” has been more noticeable than ever before, and it only seems to be widening. 

Being consistent, honest, and fully engaged with my community has always been of critical importance to me and I’ve consciously chosen to work for organisations that also meet those values. I need to be able to sleep easily at night, and be able to hold my head high as a professional. I’ve also built my reputation over many, many years and I refuse to tarnish it! My team and I actually ramped up our connections with our networks across last year, recognising that in these challenging times, our executive professionals would welcome the connection and reassurance more than ever before – it turned out that many needed to know we were working hard on their behalf and they appreciated the chance to share their anxieties and to receive advice on how best to manage their job search efforts.

He loves me, he loves me not

What I’ve never understood is the short sightedness of inconsistent recruiter communications with their job seeking communities. A bad recruiter experience isn’t easily forgotten and at some point, in many people’s career they will be asked to either recruit or recommend a recruiter ….the equation isn’t hard to work out!

Additionally, when many recruiter and TA hiring workloads have been lighter than usual, I don’t understand what excuses can be given for not spending more time than ever before with their job seeking candidates. Sure, with an influx of job seekers, there often isn’t a way to get to speak with each and every person, but to ignore them altogether in place of at least a courtesy note of acknowledgement….it just doesn’t make sense to me.

Certainly I understand we are all under new sets of pressures, and that at times life can feel utterly relentless but surely organisations (and recruiters themselves) could and should be using this time to really build on their communication and engagement with their communities to forge authentic and long term relationships.

Remember those friends, who got in touch when times were tough? Or the colleague who gave you some much needed reassurance during a difficult professional period? The impact of those interactions last. We remember those efforts fondly, and when the time comes that we make more of an effort to return the favour.

If you’re new to the recruitment industry, be it within an agency or a company’s in house talent acquisition team, you’d do well to have a mantra that “people deal with people, and ideally people that they know and like”. You can help others to “know” you in business by speaking with them, sharing with them, giving them something of use and value because you actually want to help them.

If you’re an experienced recruiter or talent acquisition professional, and you haven’t spent time today speaking to job seeking folks who haven’t heard from you for weeks or months…..now is the time to pick up the phone, or at the very least send a thoughtful email to those people. You don’t need to make crazy promises, or offer fake hope and platitudes. Just a quick reminder that you remember they exist will go a long way….