Comments on: WHO CARES ABOUT CANDIDATES http://bluesky-pr.net/blog/recruitment/who-cares-about-candidates/ specialists in PR for recruitment, HR, business education and higher education Thu, 03 May 2012 16:36:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Mervyn Dinnen http://bluesky-pr.net/blog/recruitment/who-cares-about-candidates/#comment-11 Mervyn Dinnen Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:22:09 +0000 http://bluesky-pr.net/blog/?p=120#comment-11 Glad to hear it Tracy! Think there should be more. Stopgap / Courtenay (where I work) have always based bonuses on feedback...I can honestly say that the buy in you get from clients & candidates when they know that your service, and their feedback, (not the actual placement) is your key motivator is immense. Glad to hear it Tracy! Think there should be more.

Stopgap / Courtenay (where I work) have always based bonuses on feedback…I can honestly say that the buy in you get from clients & candidates when they know that your service, and their feedback, (not the actual placement) is your key motivator is immense.

]]> By: Alconcalcia http://bluesky-pr.net/blog/recruitment/who-cares-about-candidates/#comment-10 Alconcalcia Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:16:18 +0000 http://bluesky-pr.net/blog/?p=120#comment-10 There are actually plenty of guides out there already which a quick search can bring up. I am tempted to write an e-book on the subject though, go into a bit more detail. If only I had the time! There are actually plenty of guides out there already which a quick search can bring up. I am tempted to write an e-book on the subject though, go into a bit more detail. If only I had the time!

]]> By: blueskypr http://bluesky-pr.net/blog/recruitment/who-cares-about-candidates/#comment-9 blueskypr Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:58:26 +0000 http://bluesky-pr.net/blog/?p=120#comment-9 Absolutely - in fact one of our clients recruitersite.co.uk will be launching a guide on how to write decent ads - I'll blog about it's when its done! Absolutely – in fact one of our clients recruitersite.co.uk will be launching a guide on how to write decent ads – I’ll blog about it’s when its done!

]]> By: blueskypr http://bluesky-pr.net/blog/recruitment/who-cares-about-candidates/#comment-8 blueskypr Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:56:33 +0000 http://bluesky-pr.net/blog/?p=120#comment-8 Very true Mervyn. In fact, one of my clients, CBSbutler, a technical and engineering recruiter does just that - 40% of their bonus is based on things other than billings. They are approased on customer service, teamwork, developing self and others, problem solving etc - makes for much more rounded consultants - and thaty;ve had better esults since they implemented it! Very true Mervyn. In fact, one of my clients, CBSbutler, a technical and engineering recruiter does just that – 40% of their bonus is based on things other than billings. They are approased on customer service, teamwork, developing self and others, problem solving etc – makes for much more rounded consultants – and thaty;ve had better esults since they implemented it!

]]> By: blueskypr http://bluesky-pr.net/blog/recruitment/who-cares-about-candidates/#comment-7 blueskypr Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:52:03 +0000 http://bluesky-pr.net/blog/?p=120#comment-7 Thanks Graham - I too had a similar SLA when I was in recruitment in the late 80s Thanks Graham – I too had a similar SLA when I was in recruitment in the late 80s

]]> By: grahamsalisbury http://bluesky-pr.net/blog/recruitment/who-cares-about-candidates/#comment-6 grahamsalisbury Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:48:20 +0000 http://bluesky-pr.net/blog/?p=120#comment-6 Totally agree with the sentiments expressed! If I cast my mind back as long as 10 years ago (pre e-mail, pre internet, even pre-Windows (!!) I ran an in-house recruitment team looking to recruit upwards of 500 employees per year. We succeeded, and I would put that success down to having a very simple Service Level Agreement in place; an SLA that was intended to satisfy both recruiting managers and candidates themselves. The SLA was as follows: All applications acknowledged (by old-fashioned snail mail!) within two days of receipt Within two weeks all candidates to either have been invited to interview or rejected Within four weeks all interviews to have been conducted Within one week of interview, candidates to have either received offer or rejection I find it alarming, bewildering and in fact downright shoddy, that in our technology-enabled recruitment environment, the care shown to candidates frequently gets nowhere near the level of service that I've described above. In answer to the question of "Who Cares About Candidates," sadly I'm led to the answer of : not many of the recruitment agencies, or so it would seem. Totally agree with the sentiments expressed!

If I cast my mind back as long as 10 years ago (pre e-mail, pre internet, even pre-Windows (!!) I ran an in-house recruitment team looking to recruit upwards of 500 employees per year. We succeeded, and I would put that success down to having a very simple Service Level Agreement in place; an SLA that was intended to satisfy both recruiting managers and candidates themselves.

The SLA was as follows:

All applications acknowledged (by old-fashioned snail mail!) within two days of receipt
Within two weeks all candidates to either have been invited to interview or rejected
Within four weeks all interviews to have been conducted
Within one week of interview, candidates to have either received offer or rejection

I find it alarming, bewildering and in fact downright shoddy, that in our technology-enabled recruitment environment, the care shown to candidates frequently gets nowhere near the level of service that I’ve described above.

In answer to the question of “Who Cares About Candidates,” sadly I’m led to the answer of : not many of the recruitment agencies, or so it would seem.

]]> By: Alconcalcia http://bluesky-pr.net/blog/recruitment/who-cares-about-candidates/#comment-5 Alconcalcia Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:22:20 +0000 http://bluesky-pr.net/blog/?p=120#comment-5 I would add that when you open up pretty much any job site, you will find it littered with cut and pasted job descriptions and badly written copy full of grammatical errors, posing as advertisements. The allure, the enticement, the capturing the casual browsers attention rather than the desperate job seeker - all seem to increasingly be a thing of the past. The candidate when searching is faced with a wall of largely bland, uninspiring 'ads' that seem to have been thrown together and put scattrergun style on a few sites here and there in the hope that candidates will bite. I am not saying that happens all the time, but there is definitely a density of inferior recruitment consultancy content that is dumbing down the overall online offering. And people wonder why they get such a bad response. At least they get a response which is often more than the poor candidate does. I would add that when you open up pretty much any job site, you will find it littered with cut and pasted job descriptions and badly written copy full of grammatical errors, posing as advertisements. The allure, the enticement, the capturing the casual browsers attention rather than the desperate job seeker – all seem to increasingly be a thing of the past. The candidate when searching is faced with a wall of largely bland, uninspiring ‘ads’ that seem to have been thrown together and put scattrergun style on a few sites here and there in the hope that candidates will bite. I am not saying that happens all the time, but there is definitely a density of inferior recruitment consultancy content that is dumbing down the overall online offering. And people wonder why they get such a bad response. At least they get a response which is often more than the poor candidate does.

]]> By: Mervyn Dinnen http://bluesky-pr.net/blog/recruitment/who-cares-about-candidates/#comment-4 Mervyn Dinnen Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:09:27 +0000 http://bluesky-pr.net/blog/?p=120#comment-4 Great piece Tracy! Like yourself and Alan, I also pre-date the Fax machine (surely the BC/AD for modern recruiting!) and it was drilled in to me from earliest days that each candidate can and will become a future client. Unfortunately, most recruitment businesses measure and reward on sales activity and too few regard the candidate experience as part of this activity. Whole generations of future clients are being alienated, possibly to the point of turning away from using 3rd party recruiters, and it's frustrating to see so many of today's consultants ignore this source of future business and referrals. I've long believed that a shift in the way recruiters are rewarded, with client & candidate feedback becoming an integral part, will help bring about a change of mindset. If you reward recruiters for good candidate experience..they'll give it! Great piece Tracy! Like yourself and Alan, I also pre-date the Fax machine (surely the BC/AD for modern recruiting!) and it was drilled in to me from earliest days that each candidate can and will become a future client.

Unfortunately, most recruitment businesses measure and reward on sales activity and too few regard the candidate experience as part of this activity.

Whole generations of future clients are being alienated, possibly to the point of turning away from using 3rd party recruiters, and it’s frustrating to see so many of today’s consultants ignore this source of future business and referrals.

I’ve long believed that a shift in the way recruiters are rewarded, with client & candidate feedback becoming an integral part, will help bring about a change of mindset.

If you reward recruiters for good candidate experience..they’ll give it!

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