On a daily and weekly basis various scenarios occur that are just a normal part of recruitment life… we deal with humans after all, which means the unpredictable occurs and often!
So – time to highlight a couple of things you need to know.
Firstly and loudly; Employers – ignore the competitive forces that exist at your peril.
People like choice. We are not kidding when we say that good candidates are hard to find. We all know this yet for some reason we still see a ‘disconnect’ between the words and actions of employers. For example, how long should a candidate wait for feedback from an interview?
Well in our books – not long at all.
It’s about professionalism. It’s about you managing YOUR company brand positively.
We have a part to play too – but can only do so much without your involvement. For example:
- We had one situation recently where a uniquely, highly skilled person was interviewed for a position [salary $120k] on a Tuesday morning yet we had still not had any feedback about that interview by Friday morning. This was not good at all. It did not aid the candidate experience with the employer’s brand and created doubt in the mind of the candidate who had thought that this company was polished and professional.
We challenge you to jog their memories back to when you were last looking for a job…
Q: “What was the ONE thing that you wanted, needed, craved, expected, deserved and held out for?”
A: It was feedback. Waiting for 4 days is out of step with candidate expectations these days.
- The second example is also a common one these days…I was at a fundraiser and sat next to a particularly engaging/interesting woman who had a wonderful specialised background [21 years in recruitment told me this] and she had just found out her current role was disestablished, which in itself, is a demanding time for people.
We talked about the steps she should put in place immediately [a topic of another BLOG as sadly, we have been asked for this advice by a number of people recently]
I also knew of a particular company who logically [given the market area] would be delighted to know about her availability immediately – ahead of competitors. We offered to make the call which was delightfully received as a suggestion.
Now, we don’t muck around. This market is all about access to people, competitive advantage, speed, smart talent spotting, and yes, it is about being savvy as a business …so we made the call to said company one hour later.
The response? “If she is interested in working for us why hasn’t she applied to us directly to us through the web site?”
So a couple of hints for you…
1. When faced with no job a candidate looks for help. The volumes of enquiries we have received this week are evidence of this. It is a stressful time. Sadly, the volumes have been huge recently.
2. Its time to get in touch again… because people don’t generally wake up in the morning and say…“Today I am going to spend hours on the internet looking at company websites and applying directly in the hope someone will respond to me.” [especially mid- management level candidate].
Instead they call a reputable recruitment firm and ask for advice. They apply for jobs. They tap into networks. They are usually time strapped and given that we at Frog have a dedicated CareerAgent team… [we receive over 40% WOM referral] they call us. They are efficient with their time and appreciate ACTION and support.
So the question:
Are your employees trained to represent your brand well? Will they go the extra mile to meet an outstanding candidate?
We learned at Frog, that in order to increase our access talented career aspirants who are professional and focused, we had to extend our recruiting activities to evenings and weekends and did so 2 years ago.
So in short ….
- If you want to attract top talent, you have to show it.
- If you want to hear about high calibre candidates for strategically important roles AHEAD of your competitors – then your processes and your staff need to be in alignment so you don’t miss out.
- Make sure you are sending the right messages because actions speak louder than words.
