Confessions of an Executive Restaurant Recruiter

Last week I missed the regular installment of "10 Ways to Make Recruiters Love You," but I have caught up on my work and here is my ninth article in the series that was inspired by my friends over at ItzBigBlog who wrote on the Candidate Bill of Rights. I did a critique of their series in on of my own that focused on Candidate Rights. They also have a series that is some what parallel to this one, on the Recruiter’s Bill of Rights. You might want to check it out. My series is designed to help job seekers understand how to interact with recruiters so that their relationship will be solid and fruitful. Today’s topic is "Communication."

Communication - Every inquiry from your recruiter regarding the status of candidacy or application with him or any other company is worthy of a response.

Communications seems like an easy topic. Sometimes the simplest things on the surface are actually pretty complicated. Just today I was having a conversation with a colleague of mine about this very issue with George Martin, of GM & Associates, who recruits all types of engineers. [NOTE]: George happens to be a friend of Peggy McKee who writes the Medical Sales Recruiter - Tips & Quips blog. My group did the site redesign, redeployment, and SEO for Peggy’s company PHC Consulting and their corporate website where they recruit candidates for medical sales and laboratory products sales representatives. Well, this morning George and I were talking about the open and frank conversations that are essential to building trust in the relationship between jobseeker and recruiter. George has been in recruiting for 18 years so he ought to know what he is talking about. One of the keys to building a long term relationship according to George is the sharing of information between the recruiter and the job seeker. If that candidate isn’t forthcoming with information and doesn’t make him feel comfortable, George won’t work with him.

By getting that understanding up front, I find that I don’t get burned very often.

You see trust is a two way street and if you don’t inspire it with your recruiter, then you can’t expect him to want to work with you. If you called a recruiter and during your conversation you got the feeling that he wasn’t being truthful about the job he was working on, the company that was his client, what your chances as a candidate were, you wouldn’t feel very confident that you were working with the right individual would you? Well the same holds true with a recruiter and how he judges your veracity and how worthwhile working with you would be. A very coy person may be judged to be disingenuous and not worthy of the recruiter’s time investment.

During any engagement where a jobseeker (who at that point has turned into a candidate) and recruiter are interviewing with a company, there must be open communications about what other opportunities the candidate is working on. Oh, you may hear advice that you shouldn’t tell your recruiter and that it isn’t any of his business…. well that’s bunk. No recruiter can help you extract the best deal without knowing all the parameters involved. No recruiter will appreciate being blindsided at the eleventh hour when you tell him that you have another offer from a different company. You won’t be that recruiter’s favorite person (putting it mildly) and recruiters have friends, lots of them. You could wind up being personae non gratae with a lot of recruiting firms. My best advice is to find a recruiter who is worth trusting, and then just do that… trust the recruiter to work with you. Most great recruiters are in it for the long haul, they want to build relationships that last. They realize that every candidate will one day be a hiring authority. Build trust by communicating, everything, honestly. It’s not just about communications its is about open and honest communications.

Next week will be the final installment of our series on how to make recruiters love you when we cover - "Information"

Series - 10 Ways to Make Recruiters Love You

1) Confidentiality - Recruiters are entitled to have confidentiality and security of the information shared with prospective jobseekers regarding the companies with whom the recruiter is working and the positions which he is trying to fill. Any sharing of information with colleagues or co-workers should only be done with express prior permission of the recruiter. (read the entire post here)

2) Credibility - Jobseekers that apply for positions or express interest in a position during recruitment will do so and substantiate that he or she is willing to accept a new position based upon the criteria that is outlined to the recruiter. This means that a jobseeker is ready, willing, and able to commit to a job change for an acceptable offer. (read the entire post here)

3) Accuracy - The resume and all other documents presented to the recruiter accurately depicts the experience, work history, and accomplishments of the jobseeker. All items will be a true representations of fact. (read the entire post here)

4) Consideration - Decisions to accept or reject offers will be made on the basis of facts and parameters discussed with the recruiter prior to the jobseeker receiving an offer. There will be no eleventh hour “gotta haves” that are sprung on the recruiter. (read the entire post here)

5) Consistency - Decisions to accept or reject offers will be made on the basis of facts and parameters discussed with the recruiter prior to the jobseeker receiving an offer. There will be no eleventh hour “gotta haves” that are sprung on the recruiter. (read the entire post here)

6) Follow-Up - Recruiters are entitled to consistent communications regarding the status of their candidate, regardless of the how busy the candidate might be or any change in the status of the candidate as regards his or her job search. Recruiters make their living by being available for phone calls, they are always available or have a system of notification such as pagers, forwarded telephones, or voice mail. There is no acceptable excuse for not calling your recruiter back, other than death - either yours or his. (read the entire post here)

7) Preparation - Each candidate pledges that they will review all relevant information about the organization provided by the recruiter and do research that is appropriate for the level of the position on which they are working. (read the entire post here)

8) Respect - Scheduling of interviews will occur in a manner that connotes mutual respect for the hiring manager, their time and their efforts, as well as the needs of the company and formalized hiring process. (read the entire post here)

9) Communication - (today’s post)
10) Information

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