What i'm trying to get candidates to realise on our first call

As a recruitment consultant who speaks to hundreds of people every week, it’s my job to find candidates who are well matched for the roles available.

I don’t want to waste the candidate’s time by pairing them with a job they’re not keen on. Nor do I want to waste the client’s time by sending them a candidate who isn’t right for the role, or isn’t particularly interested in it.

It’s one of the reasons why recruitment consultants have a bad reputation. I hear all too often from clients that they’ve been sent candidates who are nowhere near the right fit for the role or their culture. This baffles me and makes me wonder: do recruitment consultants want to waste their own time, too?

Competition is fierce in the recruitment industry – there are over 40,000 recruitment firms in the UK alone. We as recruiters need to clean up our rep by doing things differently. We need to stop thinking about short-term gains and, instead, focus on providing long-term value for candidates and clients, forging relationships built on trust and transparency.

The first phone call with a candidate is arguably the most important call in the entire process. I want to find out as much as I can – after all, the more information I have, the greater chance there is of placing that individual in the right role, with the right company.

The initial call is also a chance to gauge whether or not the candidate is committed to the process. This helps to limit the chance of any ‘blips’ – such as the candidate dropping out – and ensures we maintain great relationships with our clients.

When it comes to questions, I ask things like:

•  Why are you looking to leave your job?
• What are you looking for in a new role?
• What does your perfect role look like?
• When it comes to culture, what kind of people would you be looking to work with?
• How would you describe yourself?
• What are your strongest skills?
• What do you bring to a team?
• Where are you located?
• What are you looking to achieve in your career?
• What interviews have you got going on at the moment and what do you like about them?
• What are you most proud of so far in your career?

 Obviously, every role is unique and clients look for different qualities and skills in candidates to match their culture. So I’ll also ask tailored questions to tease out certain information the client and I want to know about the candidate.

Asking a lot of questions benefits everyone – the candidate, client and myself. I can accurately assess whether the candidate’s characteristics are right for the company and in turn, identify whether the company can provide the candidate with what they’re looking for, for the foreseeable future. The more informed I am, the better I can do my job.

The questions I ask also encourage candidates to consider their position on a deeper level. I ask why they’re leaving to get them to think about what they don’t like about their current role, so that they don’t end up in the same job with the same characteristics. I ask what they’re looking for in an employer – in terms of values, development opportunities, culture and perks – to make sure they’ll look forward to Monday mornings, not dread them. Ultimately, I make them realise the key, personal factors involved in making them feel happy and fulfilled in a role.

We spend more time at work than we do at home with our families, so it’s important to have jobs we love. Candidates need to be matched with roles that tick all of their boxes, while clients need to be paired with candidates that have the right skills and experience, but are also the right cultural fit. As a recruiter, it’s my role and duty to make that happen.

If you’re looking to find out more information get in touch with me at [email protected] for a chat!