Be honest. Sometimes you just can’t stand the person on the other end of the phone, the other side of the desk, or the opposite end of the job board. It doesn’t matter which position you’re in. Candidates have developed the perception, and a false one at that, that most recruiters and hiring authorities are the enemy instead of a ticket to an opportunity. The unreturned calls, the condescending chatter, the brisk dismissals. It all takes its toll. Recruiters and the folks in charge of hiring often may not be any better. They give the perception of viewing candidates as wasted time, pointless stacks of resumes, and a bother not really worth getting back to:

“…employers hate candidates. I know this sounds ridiculous on the surface, but how else can I explain the flaming hoops we put in front of people just to get them to apply for a job? Thousands of jobs to search through, 45 minute profiles, expired jobs, never opened jobs, irrelevant pre-screening questions, senseless auto-filtering rules - the list goes on.” (From The Lefkow Zone)

Where does this leave us and why the perception? With frustrated parties on all sides. people aren’t finding the work they need, employers aren’t finding the employees they need, and recruiters are getting it from both ends. Yep, this trend of hate is beating everyone down, but recruiters might have the most to lose. People will always need jobs and companies will always need people to fill their desks, but will candidates continue to seek out the aid of recruiters if they see it as a painful experience that produces only regret and the occasional feeling of unbridled rage? And why these hateful perceptions? Recruiters and hiring authorities do not have the tools nor processes to handle today’s volume. Period. Period. and Period. It’s clear that people are growing weary of a recruitment process that centers around archaic tools:

“Over 80% of poll respondents state their recruitment process is either fair or poor. In fact, less than 5% stated their recruitment process as ‘world-class’.” (From The Human Capitalist)

The thing is that the recruiter actions and attitudes that put people off can be turned around and used to benefit everyone involved:

“What some Recruiters don’t understand is how to turn a negative into a positive, especially if you think that this may be a candidate that you will want to revisit ever again…The bottom line is that you return phone calls and e-mails, even if you don’t have anything new to offer. You do this to build relationships that will last beyond the initial transaction.” (From from the trenches)

Does love conquer all? Only in romantic comedies and movies of the week. With today’s volumes our relationships will only be as good as our recruiting tools. It’s time to start reevaluating the process and your recruiting tools, because as the saying goes, “You don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone,” and the only thing worse than having too many candidates is having no candidates at all. Stay tuned!!! itzbig. Here’s why.

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