It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly a year since the Covid-19 pandemic began. Since then, the job market has been tossed into a chaotic position with a lot of erratic ups and downs. Companies had to adopt a complete remote work model practically overnight, and the process of finding a job for candidates has been altered maybe forever. With clients now handling their talent acquisition virtually, it’s important that we as recruiters not forget to take care of prospective resources throughout their job search, and to provide an excellent candidate experience from start to finish.
It may seem obvious, but providing feedback to your candidates, good or bad, is incredibly important. There’s nothing worse than feeling dragged along during an interview process and getting zero feedback on where you stand with the hiring manager. We can’t tell you how many candidates we have worked with who had an awful experience with at least one (or several) recruiters where they felt completely out of the loop. Even if you are still waiting on feedback from the client, let your people know what’s going on. Keeping someone informed builds a rapport and trust. So even if a candidate gets passed up for this particular job, they’ll be more likely to work with you down the road. With market instability and so much happening in people’s personal lives today, your transparency will be greatly appreciated.
Though remote work poses many challenges, it also opens up tons of new opportunities and employment arrangements for candidates. It used to be practically a given that employees would need to be onsite five days a week. But with the mass expanse of remote work, candidates can live and work virtually (pun, we know…) anywhere. That being said, some clients still want their resources close by, even if they do permit a work-from-home arrangement. Having these conversations with your candidates early on will save you a lot of complications down the road. Are they comfortable with working in-person? Do they want the option to work remotely? Are they looking for a career change, contract work, or something more permanent?
Learning your candidate’s priorities and preferences will help to form long-lasting professional relationships, and enable you make the best decisions as a recruiter down the road. Don’t be afraid to communicate these preferences to your AE either.
The days of grabbing a cup of coffee or walking someone into an interview are on somewhat of a hiatus right now. At this point, though, most of us are at least somewhat familiar with platforms like Zoom, Teams or Google Meet. But don’t gloss over this when it comes to your candidates. Some candidates may only be familiar with one particular tool, and some might just now be reentering the job market. Offer to touch base via one of these platforms when you first start working together. It’ll help your candidates put a name to face, and get them more comfortable at navigating these platforms. That way they’re more at ease when it comes time for their virtual interviews.
Hopefully in the not-too-distant future it’ll be safe for us to meet face-to-face without worry. But for now, in the remote working world, we have to take extra care to provide an excellent candidate experience. Being more diligent about providing feedback, learning our candidates’ priorities, and utilizing virtual meeting tools where appropriate will go a long way in securing placements and building trust within our networks.
