“You’re very different….”

I have just got off the phone from a candidate and during the call I had a proper “laugh out loud” moment. With 24 hours to go before she interviewed for a job I’d put her forward for, we were just going through all the information I’d sent over, making sure she had everything she needed and was fully prepped. With psychometric tests involved as part of the process as well, I wanted to make sure that these had been completed with enough time for my client to review. And her parting of comment of “You’re very different……good different” had me laughing. I then asked her to explain and quite simply it was because of all the information I’d given her in preparation, she said she’d never come across a recruiter who had helped her like that before. And I hear this so frequently that I have to ask, what information are recruiters giving candidates when they’ve arranged interviews for their clients?

Here’s my check list:

1)      Job Description.

2)      Job Advert.

3)      1 page company information, my notes made from my meetings with clients.

4)      Directions to site / where to park if it’s not so straight forward as a visitor’s space outside the front door.

5)      Useful links to articles about the business.

6)      Copy of LinkedIn profiles for the people that they are meeting with.

7)      Preparation for competency based interview questions.

I will not be the only recruiter who does this, I am sure of that. And why do some recruiters not do this? I have all the information to hand anyway so why would I not want to share the information to ensure that the candidates are fully prepared?

From a client’s perspective, we work in partnership together and from the moment I start recruiting on their behalf, I am representing their business. I want to tell candidates everything I know, I want to paint a picture of the role as well as the business and the people in it. And because I’ve visited the site, I know where to park. And if you’re anything like me….my life revolves around food so if there is a Waitrose across the road from my client and you get there early, I’ll tell you so if there’s time, you can grab a cuppa and some lunch, so your stomach doesn’t rumble half way through the interview. It might just reduce some stress around an already stressful situation who knows.

Then on the day of the interview the candidate gets a quick email, text or phone call to say good luck and I speak to the candidates after their interview. It’s not rocket science, I just think its good practice. And yes, I care and yes, some people will say that I only care because placing a candidate makes me money. Well just take a minute to think about this. If a recruiter sent the perfect candidate just an email confirmation with no other information, would they get the job? Of course they would. So why do I go to the extra mile? Because people matter, candidates and clients alike. And I guess somewhere along the way, a recruiter gave me the same service, so I can’t take all the credit for it, I can hopefully share what I do in the hope that other recruiters who aren’t already doing this, start to, as recruiters have a bad reputation, let’s hope we can start to change that.

Email: jo@winhurstrecruitment.co.uk

Tel: 0115 972 6513

@winhurstrec