Keys to Building Relationships with Recruiters
Keys to Building Relationships with Recruiters
In the age of social media, it is remarkably easy to turn up statements of distrust and even vitriol toward job recruiters with a simple internet search. Quora questions and subreddits like r/recruitinghell are filled with horror stories of abuse, endless lies of omission, and “ghost stories” of interviews missed or late-stage processes ended without a word.
Meanwhile, in perhaps direct relation to this, the Great Reshuffle of employees is alive and well, leading to ever more recruitment outreach. As a result, the “talent wars” are being waged at a feverish pace and third-party recruiters must act like Swiss diplomats moving between candidates and hiring managers with rapidly changing lists of necessary skills and candidate demands.
To be an effective and diplomatic recruiter in such a situation, one must build an ongoing sense of trust and act as a thoughtful guide across the candidate experience, for the sake of both future employees and employers. In response, candidates can look for recruiters that actively work to build trust and form relationships, while employers can look to work with recruiters who bring effective counsel informed by such trust. There are three key factors a recruiter can bring to the table to build these more beneficial relationships:
Self-Assessment without the Whole Picture
Creating Authentic Conversation
Acting as a Thought Partner
Self-Assessment without the Whole Picture
As a basic requirement, a third-party recruiter must be an “expert” in the day-to-day demands and culture of a workplace they’ve likely never visited; they must be a guide in unfamiliar terrain. Similarly, a candidate must be prepared to imagine themselves in a role about which they know little and then be ready to discuss their background as if it suited these unknowns. A third-party recruiter is most effective when their questions are oriented as much toward fostering accurate self-assessment and awareness as they are toward skills and experience. Look to work with recruiters who have done their homework about roles and workplaces, but who also for those who will help candidates understand if the role is right for them instead of pitching it simply to clear their desk.
Creating Authentic Conversation
Some of the most insightful data about a candidate won’t be on a resume. Gathering this data is a savvy recruiter’s governing task, and the culture they bring to a call helps determine their capacity to accomplish it. One way to accomplish this is through open, authentic conversations that provide candidates with the time to be themselves. This happens best through sincere dialogue that isn’t completely determined by an interview template. The more easily candidates can reveal the full scope of their talents, skills, and emotional intelligence, the more aptly a recruiter can recognize and communicate their fitness for a particular role. Through authentic conversation, recruiters can experience the unique and compelling elements of a candidate’s background that won’t be on a resume.
Acting as a Thought Partner
The most compelling candidates are often not those who have the strongest pedigree, skillset, or prestigious position, but those who have the right combination of things for a specific job. Recognizing and communicating the appropriate combination is the best thing a third-party recruiter can do. Skills, education, and the prestige of a current firm may count much less without a narrative that combines different elements into a uniquely crafted whole. There may be numerous candidates with the same exact background, but a strong candidate is the one who has the idiosyncratic details of their background shaped into a compelling story. To best achieve the right combination, candidates can build relationships with recruiters as thought partners who can help shape and direct their profile toward the right role.
Tony Topoleski, Ph.D. is a Project Manager of ECA Partners. He can be reached at [email protected].
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