Building loyalty between a recruiter and a jobseeker can be an uphill battle, yet it’s the most important part of the employment process. The challenge lies in the hefty power imbalance between both parties. One is employed, the other isn’t—and it’s kind of as simple as that.
Yes, a recruiter is motivated to help a candidate find employment—it is literally their job, remember—but they aren’t in the position of wondering if they’re going to be able to cover the rent.
The desperation of a jobseeker will often drive their decision-making process towards some very binary thinking. The first job they’re offered will likely be accepted without much thought.
But that decision may not be the best possible choice. The job of the recruiter, then, is to keep the candidate on their side—even with that apparent power imbalance working against you.
Nurturing a sense of loyalty with your candidate as you find them the best possible employment opportunity can be a time-consuming process. Which is why you can keep a candidate on your side by remaining by their side.
Show them how to reply to an interview invitation email with confidence and professionalism. Walk them through potential interview questions and how to follow up afterward. Help them understand the importance of dressing appropriately for an interview, and why it counts to make a first impression.
Your guidance reassures them that they’re not alone in this process. In order for you to foster a degree of trust with your candidate, you’ll need to dig as deep, yourself, as you are asking them to.
Here’s an analogy to help you wrap your head around the notion of candidate-recruiter loyalty: imagine job-hunting like pulling water from a well.
A candidate approaches a water well – which, for the sake of analogy, represents a recruitment agency. They drop their bucket (their CV) into the well and collect water (job vacancies) in their bucket.
The candidate will then heave that big bucket of water up to the top of the well. The physical strain of this process represents the effort required by the candidate to submit countless applications and cover letters, often having to repeat this process over and over again.
At this point, the recruiter will then take the water that has been scooped up into their bucket and put that water into a crystal carafe. The fancy carafe will then be laid on the table in front of hiring managers, bringing the candidate’s hard work to the attention of people in a position to make a job offer.
The candidate has heaved all this water up from the bottom of the well, and the only thing the recruiter seems to have done is take that water and place it in front of a person of influence.
Yes, the recruiter has access to hiring managers that a candidate could only wish for. But from the candidate’s perspective, it looks as if they are the ones doing all the hard work themselves.
Especially when you consider a candidate may need to go through multiple rounds of intensive interviews, tasked with lengthy written assignments or even preparing complex presentation tasks. This is a process that can take months.
Job-hunting is gruelling. It’s important for a recruiter to remember this, as well as assure a candidate that their best interests are being considered. You can establish that sense of loyalty between yourself and a candidate by being the one who is also heaving the bucket of water back out of the well.
Help your candidate attract interest with their CV and pursue those leads. Let them know that you are seeking out that special X-Factor which goes beyond just what’s written in their career history.
If you do, there is a strong likelihood that candidate will be much more inclined to stay with you even if they have possible options elsewhere. Your candidate will know they have someone putting in the extra effort, and this is what fosters a sense of loyalty between both parties.
If you hear an update from the hiring manager that their cover letter has been read, let them know. If there’s going to be a first-round interview, share the good news!
And if there isn’t any new information that’s been received, let them know that as well.
Something that’s almost as bad as being rejected is being ignored, so don’t run with the assumption that no news is good news. Be sure to celebrate the wins as well as the setbacks: Check in regularly with your candidate to share updates and learn how they’re proceeding with their own applications.
Regardless of which camp your feet are placed in – that of the recruiter’s or those of the jobseeker’s – there isn’t much easy about job-hunting. Recruiters need to place enough candidates in roles to hit their quotas, and jobseekers are looking for ways to advance their careers while just getting by to cover the rent.
While it can seem like the best step forward, taking the fast approach to placing candidates in the first available vacancy can sometimes backfire. It pays to humanise the recruitment process at every stage, because the candidate you’re interviewing is also a person (a relatively obvious factor that is often overlooked).
If a candidate feels like they aren’t having their needs met – if they’re the only one heaving that bucket out of the well – they are likely to walk toward whoever will have their best interests at heart.
This is why you can make your own life much easier as a recruiter by helping out your candidate. Jobseekers are much more likely to help out a recruiter if they feel looked after.
They will submit the necessary application documents on time, complete the test assignments ahead of schedule – and, most importantly, they won’t bail on the interviews you’ve lined up.
Fostering loyalty with a candidate begins and ends with putting in the extra effort to help a jobseeker land their next role. When you can prove yourself to be at their side for every step of the journey, you’ll find they will be willing to help you hit your quotas as well.
Take a step forward to increase the efficiency of your recruitment process. Xeople Recruit gives you the tools to streamline your process and allows you to focus on building strong relationships with candidates while the software takes care of the rest.
Contact us today to enhance your connections and boost recruiting efficiency.