5 Things Recruiters May Overlook
More often than not, the rush to find that perfect placement by a certain deadline can distract recruiters from properly managing the necessities that all searches require. This oversight can significantly reduce your chances of securing high-quality talent who could potentially turn into successful placements for your clients.
Here are five things recruiters may often overlook and how to ensure you spot them during your next recruitment process:
1. Emphasis on irrelevant qualifications
Have you ever had a candidate who sounded amazing on the phone, as far as the qualities he/she placed emphasized, only to realize that, for the most part, these qualities have nothing to do with the role you’re recruiting for? The candidate’s background is phenomenal. He or she has worked for amazing Fortune 500 companies, been promoted multiple times within the past several years, and the list of stellar credentials and accomplishments goes on.
When a potential candidate is a smooth talker and has an admirable background, it becomes all too easy to get excited and be swayed by information not pertinent to the position you’re recruiting for, even though it sounds great at face value. As a recruiter, it is imperative to remain cognizant of the qualifications for the role you’re recruiting for versus the non-relevant qualities a potential candidate may choose to emphasize.
Always be an active listener on recruiting calls and ensure that the potential candidate is providing information about his or her background that is relevant to the position you are attempting to fill.
2. Asking for referrals
Okay, so you’ve avoided getting lost in a sea of wonderful, yet irrelevant information. Your active listening skills have determined that a potential candidate is not quite the right fit, or the candidate is simply uninterested in the position. You should move on right?
Not so fast! In most cases, it is a great practice to ask for referrals. Asking for referrals can give you the ability to tap into the network of an uninterested or declined candidate. This could potentially lead you directly to your placement for the opportunity at hand. It’s always refreshing when applying your sourcing chops uncovers previously unidentified talent.
3. Additional Placements
Remember those stellar candidate backgrounds that, for one reason or another, just weren’t right for the particular role you were recruiting for at the time? Well, don’t be so quick to completely toss their candidacy aside before figuring out if their skills would actually suit another open position within your client’s company.
While most clients will have a set budget from a hiring standpoint (especially when enlisting a retained executive search firm), I have personally worked on a search where one client in particular let our team know up front that because of the global nature of their company, they would be open to exploring additional candidate backgrounds that may have just missed the mark for alternative positions within their company.
It’s always good to be proactive in asking your clients if they may have other needs outside of the role you’ve been asked to fill. Think about it, potential additional placements are a win-win for both your company and the client, as they will provide additional revenue, as well as provide a value-added service.
4. Reasons for leaving and transition periods
You’ve received a potential candidate’s resume and, as you’re reviewing it, you notice one or two short career stints and— wait a minute— a gap/transition in the “career history section” from February 2012 to May 2012.
It is important to not speculate about what could have been a person’s reason for leaving a previous company or, even worse, completely overlook a transition (albeit short). Your clients will notice these things and expect you to be well informed with an explanation that will assuage any potential concerns.
Always ask candidates directly to explain any transitions and their reasons for leaving each role (and provide clarification for any ambiguity), prior to presenting their background to your clients. This will instill confidence in your clients in your ability to take the necessary time to complete an initial assessment.
In addition to transitions within the body of the resume and career history, always double check that there isn’t a gap/transition between when a person completed their undergraduate/graduate education and when he/she first entered the workforce. Indeed, some transitions or gaps in career history can simply be explained by a candidate pursuing an advanced degree; however, this information should always be verified with the candidate and shared with your client.
5. Creating excitement and truly selling a role
It’s incredibly easy to sometimes lose ourselves in the mere transaction of the “give and take” when interacting with candidates, i.e. here’s the information about the role and what my client is looking for…now send me your resume ASAP.
Working in the retained executive search arena can definitely pose its challenges when trying to increase the level of excitement about a particular opportunity, as most of the recruiting and “selling” are typically done via phone calls and e-mails, without meeting the candidates face-to-face (until suggested by the client to do so).
Always keep in mind there are certain “power words” (e.g. impact, growth, build/create, entrepreneurial, etc.) and selling points that will resonate with candidates when they are considering whether or not to explore a new career opportunity (as most executive-level candidates are “passive candidates” who are happy in their current roles).
Great recruiters are always aware of the landscape through which they are recruiting for each role, and the key pieces of the opportunity that will pique the interest of even the most passive candidate. Depending on the search or the space, this could include the opportunity to create and then drive a transformational growth strategy, working in a highly entrepreneurial environment, or even the opportunity to build out an entire function and team within a company from scratch.