The Importance of Communication – It Goes Both Ways
As a job-seeker, what’s the most frustrating thing about the whole process? Lack of communication. That is the universal complaint, particularly towards recruiters. Nothing causes frustration and anxiety like putting yourself out there, and being left to drift in limbo. As recruiters, it behooves us to take care of our candidates, to build even the simplest of relationships with them. It takes so little time to send a brief, polite e-mail not only to those candidates that you feel would be a fit, but also to those that don’t fit–thanking them for taking the time to apply, informing them that their skills don’t quite fit, but that you’re interested in connecting with them to hopefully find something for which they do fit.
However, there’s a second side to this. Recruiters can often be seen as annoying or harassing, largely due to the referral and job opportunity e-mails we send out. I’ll admit, there are probably some recruiters out there who deserve those adjectives, but it’s not universal. In many cases, this perception arises because the recruiters don’t receive any response from the potential candidate, so they continue to send opportunities, hoping that maybe the right one will spark interest in the candidate. If you’re not looking for a job anymore, just send a quick 1-2 sentence e-mail stating such. If the opportunity sent isn’t what you’re looking for, but you’re still looking, send a quick 2-3 sentence response thanking them for reaching out, but then clarify what kind of position you are looking for.
The key thing of it all is that recruiting is a two-way street. Communication goes both ways. There are so many articles and blog posts encouraging recruiters to step up and be more active in responding to candidates, but I’m now putting a call out to all the job-seekers out there–please talk to us! We want to help, not harass.