The Road to Working Smarter as a Recruiter

By Melissa Pipkin

As I forge ahead in the fabulous world of recruiting, I find myself recruitalicious 2011 5 10 trying to figure out how to balance not only my day, but my candidates’ day, and hiring leaders’ day.  I can’t help but stop and say, “whoa, I need to step back and restructure the plan.”  And then, of course, I ask myself, “well, what is the plan again?? Oh yes, the plan.  The plan is to ensure my efforts are being communicated clearly to all involved parties and with as much detail as I can muster. I don’t like to assume people know what I am talking about, so I put the details down in such a way there is limited room for confusion.  For me, this lends itself to a much smoother process.  How?  Let’s try and sum this up categorically…

Recruiter: I ask every detail I can think of that will help me identify if this candidate is the “right one.”  i.e. do they meet all the criteria; can they work the schedule.  If the candidate answers, “open” to anything, in my mind I say… no, not a good enough answer, let’s go deeper.   So, working the 12:00 a.m.-8:00 a.m. shift is good for you, then?  Oh, it’s not… well, then you are not “open”.  In my business, that is a viable shift.

Candidate: When they are headed to an in-person interview do I tell them the address? Sure.  But, should I include the conference room or suite number if I know it?  Of course!  I include the manager’s name and contact number- if the candidate gets lost, this would be helpful.  We want to ensure the candidate experience is seamless and  allows for less confusion during what will be a nervous day for the candidate.   The candidate should only have one job: to knock the socks off of the hiring leader and win the job!

Hiring Leader: Should I submit all the details on the meeting request or just say “Jane Smith”?  I would include, Jane Smith, where they will meet, the job title, and sometimes the type of employment.  The hiring leader may have 7 positions open with the same job title , but with various part-time, full-time, etc designations.  Which one is Jane Smith interviewing for?  Let them know; they will quietly be thanking you.

Work smarter, not harder… being an excellent recruiter and working for a top notch organization should include thinking about the above….and then some!


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