Candidate Service is Key
By Maple Resourcing
Recruitment can be a funny business, sometimes. We’re paid by our clients, who are no doubt of utmost importance and to be treated with the highest levels of customer service. However, without our candidates, we would equally have no business at all.
It seems that many agencies treat candidate-service as an after-thought though – despite them being the life-blood of recruitment. As a candidate, you shouldn’t have to put up with lacklustre service from your recruiter – we are, after all, here to represent you to our clients.
- A recent NAM CandE Research Report, published in 2015, found that only 40% of recruiters are required to respond to job applicants in any way – let alone actually do.
- According to the CHI-DFH Vacancy Duration Measure, vacancies took an average of 27.6 working days to fill.
- 40% of candidates surveyed by CareerBuilder felt application processes are becoming increasingly difficult.
- The majority of candidates report that recruitment processes lack personalisation.
With this in mind, it’s worth considering what sort of service you should expect from your recruiter…
?What should your recruiter be doing?
1. Frequent Contact
You shouldn’t have to chase your recruiter. Consultants should be checking in regularly with their candidates to ensure they are kept up to date with the hiring process and, more generally, taking an interest rather than treating you as a mere commodity.
2. Answering Your Questions
If you have questions, your consultant has to have the answers. If they don’t, they need to find out. It’s that simple – consultants must be well briefed and positioned to facilitate knowledge transfer between candidates and client.
3. Trouble Shooting
Last minute problems getting to that interview? Confused about the hiring procedure? Call your consultant – they are (should be) here to help you solve those problems that crop up – smoothing your path and leaving you worry-free.
4. Flexible
Most recruiters, and our clients, have their processes they use to run the hiring process and onboard new candidates. Now, with clients, it may well be unwise to challenge their ways of doing things. However, your recruiter is here to help you into the perfect role – if that means occasionally deviating slightly from their usual ways of doing things, in order to help, then that’s what needs to happen – a personal service, not one-size fits all.
5. Professional and Polite
Almost goes without saying but, accepted standards of professionalism and politeness need to be maintained. Recruiters that are calm under pressure and great communicators.
6. Consistent
And there’s no point in offering all of that if the service is still hit-and-miss. Perhaps the greatest service a consultant can offer their candidates is consistency – so you know what to expect and can rely on them to deliver it – one less thing to worry about.
How do you know you’re getting good service?
An often-neglected KPI in recruitment is candidate satisfaction. At Maple, we target our consultants on a number of feedback variables, including candidate satisfaction metrics which add up to give a rounded view of how well we’ve looked after our candidates.
Next time you’re considering whether your recruiter is the right one for you, just take a moment to consider whether they make you feel;
1. Valued?
2. Informed?
3. Confident?
4. Calm?
Great recruiters look after their clients and their candidates…Get in touch: Maple Resourcing
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