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Respect for all applicants will reap long-term rewards

Views 3 Views    Comments 0 Comments    Share Share    Posted 04-02-2009  
04 February 2009:
Recruiters who haven`t previously had to manage more candidates than jobs might find the current market challenging, but there are strong reasons to give each one your best possible service, says coach Sophie Robertson.

Robertson, the director of Younique Coaching, points out that the large numbers of redundancies being reported mean that some consultants will find themselves in unfamiliar circumstances, struggling to cope with a higher volume of applicants than they had previously.

In this situation, all candidates should be treated with honesty, respect and empathy, and assistance given wherever possible.

Robertson shares an experience she had during the recession of the early nineties:

"Unemployment was high and jobs were scarce. An American woman, Tina, came in and was clearly a top candidate. When I say top, I mean she had nous and had held a position as general manager for Radisson Hotels in the US. Tina had come to Australia with her husband and was having difficulty finding work. After I interviewed her, she interviewed me.

"Tina requested I be frank with her and asked if I could find her a temp job. I told her `no`, as her computer skills were not up to date. She didn`t have the required WordPerfect v. 5.1 which was used everywhere then. Tina then asked if I would be able to place her if she had this package, and I said `yes`.

"This is what subsequently happened: Tina became proficient using WordPerfect v.5.1. At the same time I got my first job order from one of the major four pharmaceutical companies. I had been marketing to them for nine months on a weekly basis. I had gotten so desperate that I vowed never to call them again if my service and temp was not better than the agency they had used for the last 10 years.

"The job order I got was for a `difficult` manager (their description, not mine). I put my American temp Tina in, and they loved her.

"But there`s more: Without my knowledge, Tina had applied to the same agency that the client had used for 10 years and had been told that she was unplaceable because she didn`t have any local experience. You get the picture: Tina not only became a huge fan of our company but an avid critic of the agency of 10-year standing!

"While I said she shouldn`t be so upfront about her dislike for them, there was nothing I could say that could change her mind. Needless to say, we got a lot more business from her new employer and the other agency finally lost their stranglehold on the business.

"The moral of the story is this: Your job as a consultant is to give candidates service. Recruitment is a service industry. It includes placing people in jobs and giving them professional advice that will lead them to secure employment with or without your direct help."

Robertson recommends you view every candidate as:

* a person whose life you can potentially change with the right career advice and empathy at a time when they need it;


* an ambassador for you and your service because you are good at what you do; and


* a future client. Candidates become clients and they will use the consultant who treated them with dignity and respect, whether or not they placed them.

"As in any market, some candidates are better than others, but they are all people and we operate in a relatively small industry.

"Build and protect your reputation as a professional consultant. The economy will improve, and when it does you will be in the best position to take advantage when the jobs become abundant again."

Source:
http://www.recruiterdaily.com.au/nl06_news_selected.php?act=2&nav=1&selkey=38680
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