Year: 2022

By Cheryl Jackson

15dots

Recruitment is critical to the success of an organization. Recruiters are the face of a company. A well-trained recruiter can be such a positive first face that a job candidate sees and a favorable example of what’s to come. Therefore, recruiters shouldn’t just be paper pushers who review applications and schedule interviews. Instead, a recruiter needs to represent the company and sell the company to a prospective employee.

Recruit Smart: Make Positive Connections 

Even if job applicants aren’t ultimately qualified for available roles, the applicants are members of the community where your company sits. Thus, they will advocate for or against your company. What recruiters need to realize is that each applicant that comes into the company is a potential connection point in the community. Each person who has a positive connection or negative connection with your company is part of the woven fabric of positive or negative connections in the community. Consider these two scenarios:

• Everyone I met at the interview was so welcoming.
• They interviewed me, but I never heard back from them.

Be Responsive: Offer Feedback to Job Candidates

Even if the organization doesn’t hire a job candidate, it’s important to show appreciation and offer feedback to the applicant. Here’s an example of positive feedback, “We so enjoyed meeting you. We hope you apply again. We recommend you get XYZ education or experience.” Applicants walk away with a positive experience, helpful advice, and a solid connection point. Most job candidates appreciate constructive feedback from recruiters, especially developmental ideas that will help them land the right job. 

Stay Positive: Build a Stellar Brand Reputation 

Job applicants who had positive experiences with a recruiter are more likely to speak positively about an organization. Their comments sow the seeds of your organization’s reputation. Plus, perhaps someone they speak with will become the next rock-star employee your organization hires.

Put the Pros to Work for You: Outsource Recruitment

Many organizations outsource aspects of their hiring process to a recruiter or staffing company. Sometimes, a job candidate doesn’t know that the recruiter isn’t a member of the organization. In my experience working with external recruiters, the challenging part was ensuring that they were familiar enough with our organization and job openings to sell them to potential employees. The fact is, they might make five phone calls to recruit for your organization, but in the sixth phone call, recruit for something different altogether. Yet, they have a similar goal as internal recruiters – filling jobs. 

External recruiters want to fill jobs as quickly as possible. Thus, they offer job candidates the best experience possible. They want to stay employed with their recruiting company, so it’s to their benefit to leave a positive impression. They want a candidate coming back to them personally the next time the candidate is looking for a job. In general, both internal and external recruiters need to ensure the applicant has a positive experience with the company.

Find Talent: Make Recruitment a Priority

Recruitment isn’t something you can rush through or do on the side. On the contrary, recruiters are the linchpin of an organization. Recruitment needs to be a priority for an organization because recruiters play a key role in finding and hiring the right talent. But if a job applicant isn’t a good fit, recruiters should leave them with a positive impression and useful feedback. 

Elevate Employee Selection: Contact 15dots®

For more employee recruitment, selection and retention tips, contact 15dots. 15dots perfected tools and methods to elevate employee selection success above the industry norm. Let us show you how.

About 15Dots

15 Dots LLC, based in Neenah, Wisconsin, trains HR leaders and organizational personnel to adopt a rigorous employee selection process that is repeatable, scalable, and teachable. 15dots refers to five ability tests and 10 behavior-based interview dimensions critical to employee selection. 

15dots removes the “gut instinct” associated with employee selection. Consequently, hiring decisions are based on data alone. “No more guessing” is the company’s tagline. When employers match people with jobs, good things happen. Not only does production increase, but employee engagement and job satisfaction increase as well.

About the Author, Cheryl Jackson

Cheryl L. Jackson is a business consultant with a doctorate in industrial/organizational psychology. She has over 15 years of experience working with Fortune 500 companies. Cheryl specializes in selection and assessment, organizational design, and change management. She is a member of the 15dots team and has a passion for advancing employee engagement in the workplace through employee selection, development, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Cheryl is a lecturer, entrepreneur, author, and speaker promoting engagement in all areas of life.