11 Things Smart Recruiters Share With Candidates

This year, as the war for talent gets more competitive, smart recruiters will stand out by focusing on their recruiter brand. Having studied today’s job seeker in-depth over the last year, our company researched and analyzed what candidates need from recruiters to trust them. Turns out, if your recruiter brand isn’t strong enough (think celebrity status), the top talent you seek will ignore you and your company. The 1,000,000+ job seekers who visit CAREEREALISM every month were very clear in what is required for them to respect a recruiter and their employer. Here’s what candidates want you to tell them upfront:

1. How do you like to be contacted about a job? Do you prefer email, LinkedIn, or the company’s online ATS?

2. What is the right way to follow up on an application? How long should they wait and what’s the best method of contact?

3. What are some things that impress you about a candidate? Think about your most recent hiring successes. What did those candidates do to stand out to you?

4. What must candidates include to be considered? What makes your job easier so you can screen a candidate in, as opposed to screening them out?

5. What can get a candidate disqualified? What makes you put a candidate immediately in the “no” pile and why?

6. Can candidates apply to multiple job openings without penalty? Does your company frown on candidates applying to more than one job at the same time?

7. What’s your favorite quote? What do you believe in and what quote sums it up best?

8. What do you do in your free time? What kinds of hobbies and pursuits make you happy?

9. Why do you enjoy working for the company? Why does this job satisfy you professionally?

10. How does your company have fun? How do you and your co-workers enjoy yourselves on the job?

11. How would you describe the people that work at the company? What characteristics come to mind when you think of your teammates at the company?

By sharing a little bit about the recruiting process and the employment culture, you are giving top talent the information they need to feel more confident about their ability to apply successfully to your positions. Additionally, you feel less like a stranger to them, and more like an approachable expert – which will lead to more passive candidates accepting your calls and responding to your proactive emails. In short, the more information you give them, the more likely they are to connect with you. Afraid of getting slammed with applicants? Don't be. Our studies show that job seekers, especially top talent, have “online application fatigue.” They’re tired of applying online and never hearing back. In fact, 40%+ of our readers said they would never apply to a company again after they applied once and didn’t hear back. Why? They don’t like the feeling of rejection and assume the lack of a response means the company is saying “no” to them as a candidate permanently. Thus, people are doing more research and taking a longer time to decide if they want to apply to a company. The result? Today’s job seekers are being more selective and applying to fewer jobs. Which means you need to really beef up and promote your recruiter brand to get the applicant traffic you need. Brand or be branded Many recruiters will read this post and ignore the need to assess and develop their recruiter brand. The most common reason will be, “I’m too busy doing my job to do this.” To those I say, “brand or BE branded.” Without a good recruiter brand your ability to do your job will only get harder. Moreover, building your brand doesn’t take a lot of time or money. But, the longer you wait, the harder it will be to catch up to those that recognized and seized the opportunity to build up their recruiting reputations.