Trust is foundational when it comes to relationships. It’s no different in the world of talent acquisition: Establishing meaningful connections is integral to build trust with candidates. Trust is where your credibility as a recruiter hinges, and it has the power to either strengthen your recruitment brand reputation or break it with one misstep during the hiring process.
As a recruiter, you are expected to communicate necessary and sensible information to match candidates with the right job. Such a responsibility requires you to build rapport, demonstrate authenticity, listen genuinely, and display transparency to be deemed trustworthy by your candidates. All this entails adding humanity to your interactions and touchpoints to provide quality recruitment services and a positive candidate experience.
3 Ways to Build Trust with Candidates
As with any relationship, building trust with candidates is easier said than done. That’s why we’ve provided below a handful of ways you can establish trust with your candidates to boost your recruitment brand value and help you increase candidate satisfaction.
1. Honesty during the application process will increase your credibility.
It doesn’t take much to be open and honest with your candidates about the recruitment process. Communicating clearly and accurately all they need to know about the salary, the responsibilities of the role, and the company culture are good places to start. Tell them how it is when it comes to the work itself, complete with the downsides of the position, to manage candidates’ expectations well instead of overselling a role that they will end up regretting.
Honesty will always precede trust. That’s why honest recruitment will make a positive impact in defining their perception of you and your recruitment brand.
As you stay open and genuine about what you’re offering, you will naturally start to build trust with candidates and make a more positive impression. Tell them things they need to hear and not merely things that would be good to hear. When your candidates see that you’re not communicating watered-down information or painting unrealistic pictures, they will feel that you care for them, and they will trust you.
Being Genuine is key to becoming a GREAT recruiter. Find out why.
To build trust with candidates on the onset of any recruitment process, your job descriptions should be accurate and realistic. Over-glamorizing your positions may attract more candidates, but it will bear false promises that can lead to unmet expectations.
These unmet expectations turn into a negative perception that can potentially lead to lousy candidate placement. When this happens, you end up with an unsatisfied candidate who can potentially leave a bad review.
2. Asking for candidate reviews will show that you’re willing to listen.
Another way to help you build trust with candidates is by asking for their feedback. Tying in feedback gathering into your recruitment process is a sure way to make your candidates feel that you value them. Not only does this show that you are ready to listen, but that you’re also prepared to make changes that will positively affect their candidate experience, so you can better serve them.
Because staffing firms handle a large volume of candidates daily, the business can easily become highly transactional and routinary, losing its basic human touch in the essential parts of the hiring process. Being intentional in capturing the thoughts of your candidates will help communicate that you care and that you put them first, regardless of whether they get hired or not.
Additionally, your applicants are your best source of insight into the kind of candidate experience you deliver. Online reviews are powerful means to determine the health of your hiring process, measure recruitment team performance, and even showcase the best of your recruitment brand value.
Through candidate reviews, you’re able to check in with the applicants you serve and identify recruiting mistakes before they turn into pressing concerns. Without insight into what your candidates think, it would be difficult for your recruitment team to make any positive changes to your hiring process and team dynamic.
3. Displaying transparency in your recruitment branding will help build trust with candidates.
Candidates want a clear understanding of the company they will be part of. With the many job postings available, transparency of your recruiting brand can help build trust with candidates and influence their decision in your favor.
The tech-savvy world has opened countless opportunities that give candidates more control over their career options. As a result, quality talent exercises greater discretion and research before applying. Top candidates won’t just accept offers at face value; they have to verify available information on your professional pages, social networks, and candidate reviews.
An important question to ask is: When candidates research your business, will they see information that reflects as much truth as possible about your business?
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If relevant and accurate information about your business is elusive, it’s less likely that candidates will apply. In the context of a highly competitive talent market, transparency can be an asset that sets your brand apart from the rest. The accessibility to information on the world wide web has made transparency a fundamental requirement in the job search. Companies that promote openness are most likely to build trust with candidates.
Make trust an integral part of your candidate experience to boost your brand reputation.
Candidate relationships don’t have to be complicated, especially when you have the right experience management tools for your team. With Great Recruiters, you can earn the trust of candidates by promoting accountability, increasing transparency, and letting candidate reviews showcase the best qualities of your staffing firm.
You can have more control of the candidate experience you deliver as we allow you to be on top of each step of your hiring process through our automatic review system that captures candidate feedback in specific touchpoints throughout their candidate journey.
You don’t have to worry about blindsides when real-time insights are right at your fingertips. Equip your recruitment team with the insights they need to deliver the best recruitment service possible and build trust with candidates. With Great Recruiters, you know what needs to be done to increase candidate satisfaction and serve them better.
Find out how easy it is to establish the credibility of your recruitment brand with a tool made specifically for you.
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