As a recruiter you’re sometimes seen as the teacher: a bastion of knowledge who can offer advice and opportunity to your job-seeking students. But this classroom dynamic can serve to make honest and unfettered two-way communication difficult. Many a candidate has avoided giving sincere feedback to a recruiter with the assumption that doing so might harm their job prospects.
The lines of communication should be open, and candidates should be comfortable in offering up a little bit of constructive criticism when needed. There are more than a few reasons why actively soliciting candidate feedback is a wise move; here are 4 of the most fundamental.
1. Build a more meaningful relationship with candidates
Recruiting is a relationship game. Forging meaningful connections with your candidates is crucial for your long-term success. Any good relationship, as your partner continually tells you, is built on openness and honesty – this offers the opportunity for either party to air their grievances before they reach a breaking point.
But with many candidates not feeling as though it’s their place to speak up, every now and again you may need to hit the candidate feedback piñata* to see what falls out. Actively seeking feedback will allow you to build the sort of candidate/recruiter relationship that’ll last.
*Not literally.
2. Make your candidates feel important
Asking your candidates for feedback on your services can make them feel truly valued and important. It shows them that you value their opinion, and that you’re actively looking to improve your service to them. Just be sure to avoid using bulk email – this will be about as well received as 90% off Viagra spam. Go personalized instead.
3. Learn what candidates do and don’t like
You won’t know the likes and dislikes of candidates if you don’t think to ask. Perhaps you have systems and procedures that don’t make for a great candidate experience, or perhaps your communication isn’t as convenient as it could be. You can identify the personal likes and dislikes of each individual candidate, and can get a sense of what candidates as a whole prefer.
4. Improve and evolve as a recruiter
The world of recruiting is continually in flux. By keeping your toe in the water through solicited feedback, you’ll find yourself in a prime position to morph and evolve as the industry does. Those who refuse to evolve traditionally don’t last long – how many of your colleagues are still faxing info to people in their rolodex?
What’s more, the only way to improve in almost anything is to seek out constructive criticism. Sure, it may be hard to hear at times, but it will allow you to learn and grow in a way that constant pats on the back simply won’t.
It’s time to remove the one way communication vibes from your candidate interactions. By soliciting candidate feedback and religiously actioning it, you’ll be a better recruiter tomorrow than you were today.
And with the help of Great Recruiters®, that feedback is now easier to obtain than ever.
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