Overwhelmed Recruiter

Anyone filling seats for a living can tell you that there are days when you can’t remember your own name, much less the specific applicant they may speaking with at any given time. A typical impromptu phone call may sound like this:

Recruiter: “Hi Mrs. Candidate, I’m John Whitaker with HoopsHR and I’d like to speak with you about a Brand Manager position I’m actively sourcing.

Candidate inside voice: “Really? You called me about this job last week,nimrod.

Recruiter: “Yes I did, very glad you remembered….um, that’s my other line ringing, sorrygottagobye.”

It’s an occupational hazard if you’re a professional recruiter. That’s a big reason why it’s important that you’ve been on both sides of the equation:

  • Conducted a candidate search
  • Been on the receiving end of a candidate search

Hopefully, you’ve done both recently. When I manage a staffing team, I’ll actually hold my team accountable for applying for an external position once every 6 months.

There is no better experience for a recruiter than to have been through the process as an applicant at some point. Not only does it give you a tactical look at the way other people conduct their hiring processes, it gives you a chance to experience what a candidate goes through.

Complaints about recruiters are usually well-merited; the opportunity to actually speak with a recruiter (or even being acknowledged by a recruiter) is the most commonly heard beef if you listen to the candidate population. There’s absolutely no time for us to connect with every applicant, but there are other less obvious ways we draw the ire of job-seekers:

  1. The Handoff: Are you guilty of making an initial contact with a candidate only to then delegate the responsibility to someone else? If you hand me off, you’re making a statement about my value (the candidate) vs. your value.
  2. The Re-Boot: It becomes a pneumonic nightmare trying to remember candidate names, but it’s an occupational hazard. I’m an infamous multi-tasker and could have a 10-minute conversation with a person and then not even recall their gender, so I had to consciously change that instinctual pattern. That takes some dedicated focus – be in the moment and try to dedicate your attention to the individual instead of continuing to sort CV’s while on the phone. You will find yourself in the uncomfortable position of blanking on a name, so have your copious notes handy (and legible) to find some of the valuable information you gleaned from any previous communication.
  3. Not on The First Date: It can get just a bit creepy to have a recruiter go deep with a reference to a hobby, like/dislike that is not prominently displayed on your public LinkedIn profile or resumé. Build up to those questions to establish your interest in the present first, then dig around a little in the background.

Recruiting is largely a thankless job—you’re placed in the middle of two vocal (and largely unsatisfied) client groups, both of whom demand time & attention – the two commodities of which you possess the least —and that’s not even counting the ways our inside voice is screwing us over.

Use today to walk in the candidate’s shoes, and commit to making one change – the impact will be noticeable and appreciated.

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