Turndowns and Great Recruiters

Good recruiters love the hunt.  They love the excitement of identifying a great prospect to pursue.  Good recruiters also love the sales pitch.  They get a thrill from reeling in that passive prospect and converting them into an active candidate.  Good recruiters love the negotiations that lead to closing the deal.  It’s exciting to see the deal come together.   Good recruiters spend time perfecting these skills.  And yet, the most common complaint I hear about recruiters sounds something like this:  

Everything seemed to be going well.  I went through a couple of interviews and then they told me they’d call me the following week.  But, I NEVER heard anything back from them.  

The problem is that for each search, one person gets the job and a whole bunch of other people don’t.  For any given search, a recruiter might interact with dozens of people or more as she works her way to the one who fits the bill.  Every candidate in the process gets both mentally and emotionally engaged in the process.  They start envisioning the improved situation for themselves that your position represents.  They tell family and friends that they are interviewing at your company.  They begin to prepare themselves for the transition process of leaving their old job, company and friends.   

What GREAT recruiters know is that it’s just as important how you handle those who don’t get the job as it is how you handle the one that does.  For a recruiter who’s handling many searches at one time, it’s easy to lose track of how important the process is to every single individual in the process.   Here’s are a few things to think about to become a great recruiter:

• Get back to everyone.  Make it your goal to not leave anyone hanging out there wondering what happened. 
• Be candid.  Don’t beat around the bush.   They may not like the feedback, but it’s much more humane to cut them loose then to leave the hanging with no information.
• Emphasize that the selection process is about choosing the best fit for the position.  Every candidate will assume that it was something they did that “cost them” the job.  Reassure them that it wasn’t anything they did, but rather that the fit wasn’t right.  If there was a concrete skill gap identified, share that with them (i.e.  You didn’t speak Spanish as fluently as we require).
• Don’t apologize.  Both of you knew going into this that only one person get hired for any given position.  You work hard to ensure that the company makes the right hire for each position.  Most people aren’t going to be the right fit, that’s just how it works.   Don’t say you’re sorry for doing your job. 
• If they are a strong candidate for a future role at the company, establish an expectation for staying in contact.  If they aren’t a strong candidate, sincerely thank them for their interest and participation in the process. 

If you haven’t personally looked for job in a while, it’s hard to remember how much interviewing for a new job disrupts your life.  Be respectful of that fact and treat people accordingly.  Each individual we touch may be a referral source, customer, potential customer or future employee.   GREAT recruiters treat each person accordingly.

Jason Lauritsen is the Vice President of Human Resources at Union Bank and Trust.  His HR experience spans from owning an executive search firm to leading large corporate HR organizations.  He is also a writer and speaker on various topics in human resources, leadership and professional development.  The core of Jason's work focuses on the intersections between people and their employers. He is particularly interested in the areas of culture, employer brand, talent management and leadership.  He can be contacted by email at jason.lauritsen@ubt.com,@JasonLauritsen on Twitter, or through his website: www.talentanarchy.com