Honestly,
this isn’t a rant. Really it’s not. OK,
it sort of is.
Here’s the
thing.
We’re all
human. Recruiters understand that,
clients understand that. Life’s tough.
It’s often hard to make time for interviews, particularly if you have a
demanding job, have taken off lots of time recently, had too many
‘appointments’, have a suspicious boss etc.
Then, when you’ve got an offer, you can’t decide, haven’t had time to
really think about it, may want to see how other interviews go, another pitch has come up, what to do?
Your
relationship with your Recruitment Consultant should be a strong one, you
should trust them. It is absolutely
essential that you’re up front and honest with them.
I’ve got
two recent case studies to share with you:
CASE STUDY ONE - interview AWOL
It’s not
quite the dog ate my homework but….
Arrange
candidate interview with a leading agency
Candidate
calls the day before to postpone
Recruiter
explains so client absolutely fine, understands
Recruiter
reschedules interview
Candidate
calls the day before to postpone
Client
fine, understands
Recruiter
reschedules interview
Candidate
doesn’t turn up for interview
Client not
fine. Is hacked off. Has rescheduled three times, it’s rude.
Week later,
candidate decides they really do want the move but client is no longer willing
to see them.
Agency life
is particularly busy, hectic, chaotic.
Pitches are ongoing, there’s day to day client management to do, project
implementation. Trying to get out for an
interview is hard work. The ‘rant’ isn’t
actually about scheduling and rescheduling interviews, it happens, we expect
it. However, not turning up and not
notifying anyone is not OK, nor are made up excuses (I’d rather explain that
you had a key pitch for a client – which shows your commitment rather than the car
broke down for the 4th time…*).
In this day and age of technology, no-one will understand that you
couldn’t nip out for 5 minutes ‘to the toilet’ and make a quick call. Everything is fine if you communicate, the
recruiter can smooth things over and explain etc. But no contact at all? Makes you look unprofessional in a way that
any recruiter will find difficult to cover.
If you think it’s going to be difficult to get out of the office, advise
in advance so if something does go pear shaped, it’s not a huge surprise. We tend to recommend interviewing at the
start or end of the day and most clients are happy to accommodate that. If you’re really struggling, it’s best to
tell us – we’ve even got clients who will interview at weekends (they’re the
really understanding ones). At no time
is silence ever a good option.
CASE STUDY TWO – Post offer AWOL
Candidate
interviews with client
Client and
candidate love each other
After a
second interview, they still love each other
Brilliant!
Client
makes offer
Candidate
initially pleased
Candidate avoids
calls from recruiter for the following 5 days
Client (and
recruiter) increasingly concerned
Concern
turns to irritation (I’m playing this down…)
On day 6,
candidate rings recruiter. Talks
initially about the weather (really!)
Candidate
turns the offer down
In this
case they may see it as not a big loss but it is a small industry and word does
get around. It would have been a
different story if they had decided to go for it as they were in danger of
pushing the client to change their mind.
Ultimately,
communication is absolutely key in this process. The recruiter has to keep
talking with both the candidate and the client.
It’s their job. The client needs
to be kept in the loop as to how the candidate feels about the opportunity and
the offer and the candidate in turn, needs to (honestly) tell the recruiter how
keen they are on the role. Recruiters
expect good candidates to have multiple opportunities on the go simultaneously,
we expect counter offers, we expect and appreciate that candidates need time to
think and review an offer and to take time on what is a very important
decision. However, going off radar, not
returning calls and sending one line texts is unhelpful. Bear in mind that we have a client to keep
happy and if you’re not that keen on the role, we need to manage the client’s
expectations and most of all, keep that door open for you until you decide.
Many
candidates do feel that recruiters are only concerned with the £££. Clearly that’s a consideration but
particularly in our sector, we’re fortunate that there are several professional
recruiters who do put the needs of the candidate first, ensure that the
opportunities that they present are relevant and manage the recruitment process
well. Most recruiters will give proper
and balanced advice to candidates so don’t be scared of sharing your thoughts
with them. If you don’t want to accept
an offer, that’s fine, we can live with that and so can the client. However, it’s not fair to leave things in
limbo. If you need more time to make a
decision, tell us, we can again manage the client expectations. If the client gets a bit shirty that you’re
taking too long, they’ll be a lot shirtier if you don’t return calls. The
longer you leave it, the more the client thinks that they may have made a
mistake in making an offer. So really
it’s best to just be honest with the recruiter and decide on a plan of what to
communicate with the client. Then we’re
all happy. You’ve got time to make the
right decision and the recruiter can be left to manage the client.
So. Rant over.
These two case studies are both good candidates (on paper) who
ultimately haven’t got great communication skills. I hope they’ll be very happy in their new
roles. Really! I work with candidates over time. I’m not in
it for the quick buck but for the long haul.
Having been in the industry for several years, I continue to maintain
relationships with candidates over the years and work on a ‘if I don’t place
you this time around, come back to me in a couple of years, let’s stay in
touch’. This industry is too small to
fall out with people or have people thinking badly of you, communication is the
key!
* Note that you should never, ever use an
excuse of death/funerals/hospital visits unless it’s true. I have had candidates in the past with 7
grandparents, several dogs etc, just not good Karma. Also, really, food poisoning isn’t that
believable and if you are going down that route, don’t embellish with details
of the (fake culprit) Indian/Chinese takeway – a dead giveaway!