Providing your Candidates Feedback - Staffing & Recruitment

Great recruitment and staffing companies know how to provide feedback to their candidates, especially when they are not placed. In this article, we will focus on providing recruiter tips on easy ways to have difficult conversations.

Whether you are on the agency side or client side, staffing professionals often focus their attention on the candidates they place. After all this makes sense since you rely on these individuals to help you get paid. However it is just as important to pay attention to the people you place as it is with the people you bypass. Remember that for every 1 person you place, you bypass many more. Each one of these candidates will walk away with some impression of your staffing agency. No doubt they will talk about their experience with you with other candidates. Therefore, each candidate that you encounter represents an opportunity to build your staffing brand. What kind of impression do you want them to walk away with? What kind of experience are you wanting to create?

The impact on your staffing brand may not be as immediate but consider that the person you just bypassed might know of someone who is more suitable. There is good chance that the candidate you bypassed might be able to refer to you to someone who may better meet your client’s requirements. Re member they have spent years in their careers and have extensive networks from professional associations and alumni. Wouldn’t it be nice if you can get a referral? Especially if you are working on a specialized position that is hard to fill? What if another job order came up some time later that better suits this candidate, wouldn’t be great if you had developed a good enough relationship with your candidate to call on them and they would be glad to hear from you? I have heard my share of horror stories from candidates complaining about their experience with agency recruiters. Below are some basic recruiter tips based on the top complaints I have heard.

3 Tips on Creating Positive Word of Mouth With Candidates

As I mentioned in the last chapter, show genuine care about your candidate’s career whether or not you decide to represent them. After all, they are likely making the biggest decision in the placement. There’s a good chance you are a good talker, but are you a good listener? Take the time to listen to what your candidate is looking for in their career. This also means taking time to carefully review the candidate’s qualifications, giving feedback about resumes, and interviewing skills. If you cannot help them, refer them to another trusted professional whether this means to another staffing provider, resume writer, or interview coach or even a good career book. By giving your candidates employment preparation resources, you demonstrate your commitment to their careers.

Open and honest communication. Be open and honest with your candidates. This means when you give feedback to your candidates, be honest. Candidates seek your employment expertise and appreciate your honest feedback. It goes a long way in establishing your credibility. This can also mean be upfront with details like pay rates. Not every staffing company tells their candidate what their commission is but some do. From my experience, the staffing companies who have an open compensation policy often have a positive reputation and are trusted more. If you don’t disclose this to your candidates, well I suppose you better hope they do not find out. This reminds me of a time when a staffing company marked up their fees by 100% but did not tell their contractors. When these consultants discovered what their staffing company was billing them out at, there was serious mutiny (and I hate to say it but I chuckled since it reminded me of the days when I handled compensation issues with the union reps.)

Set clear expectations. This kind of relates to the honest and open communication point above. Here simply create clear expectations on role and responsibilities for both you and your candidate. How often have I heard a qualified candidate, whose recruiter went MIA after promising to be in contact? Conversely, how many candidates went MIA, also known as the infamous no show for their interview? Set clear expectations to avoid misunderstanding and promote a harmonious candidate/recruiter relationship.

Successful recruitment and staffing companies focus not only on the candidates placed, but also the ones that were not placed. Great staffing companies ensure that all applicant’s who touch their recruitment process have a positive experience. If you do this, you will be well on your way to creating a positive Candidate buzz.

For more information about creating a positive a positive word of mouth advertising in recruitment and staffing, see the article “Building the Buzz for Your Recruitment Company”.

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