This is based on my experience of handling recruiters who are in lookout for Candidates with technical experience in the Information Technology (IT) industry.
Objective & holistic analysis
Yes, we know you are looking for a Developer or an infrastructure Engineer or an automation Tester. But then, can you please ask your Client the appropriate questions before expecting the candidate to fit in to your canned set of questions?
Let me give you a hint. If your Client expects you to lookout for candidates with A, B, C, D and E skills, would you ask your Client if they should match all the expected skills or are some skills valued higher than others?
I’ll give you another hint. If your Client says we are looking for a person with X skill. But the Candidate that you just called has a good working knowledge of Y skill (which is an alternative tool), would you consider the Candidate? The chances are, the Candidate can quickly adopt skill X based on their prior working experience of skill Y. Would you ask your Client all these questions when you engage with them for a chat over a job description?
This might sound a bit odd, but I have encountered recruiters who didn’t know the difference between JavaScript and Java. Brush up some basic skills even though you might not come from a technical background.
When you call someone and leave a message, just don’t assume that everyone speaks your level of English. In fact, English might be your mother tongue or the only language you speak. It doesn’t mean that the Candidate would be familiar with your accent. So, please be clear when you introduce yourself or leave a voice message with your name and number. It matters!
Since technology field attracts talents from across continents and various language backgrounds (I mean, not machine language), it does make sense to have a little bit of empathy. We know you have your targets. But then treating individuals as commodities doesn’t really help in attracting candidates with potential.
Always try to take advantage of every conversation and if the candidate does not fit in to the particular role that you are after, chances are they might be a better fit for a future role. I am positive that your organisation allows you to categorise candidates for future reference.
When you go through the CV of the candidate, it might reveal some interesting clues. For example, say the candidate has a decade of experience in a particular technology stack, you’ll notice that they might have worked in the current place of residence only for a period of two years. This might reveal that they are new immigrants who might have just settled down or about settling down in the place.
Have some conversation around how they have settled down and this could reveal some vital clues. But in essence, be genuine in your queries and not just engage in a conversation that follows a checklist handed out to you.
For recruiters in societies with higher degree of privacy laws: Would you ask someone are they male or female or transgender or LGBT ? Use a bit of sense when you ask someone why they have not been employed in a full-time role for the last few months? Move on from that question and it is a definite “no no” for candidates like me. I prefer to take a break from a mundane full-time job and use the in-between breaks as a recharge time to spend time with kids or upgrade my technical skill set or write a Post like this that probably won’t be read by anyone or just gape at void.
Does the question of “why not in active employment?” or “one being in active employment” mean anything? It is an area of assumption rather than any conclusive inference.
Oh, and regarding salary or daily rate questions: You have a wealth of information about the candidates right in front of you. Don’t jump in to the salary question right up front. You may argue that we are trying to gauge if the Candidate would consider the role. But then if the Candidate shoots back, how much commission do you gain from this placement? Would you be willing to divulge or be offended?
You are in a very responsible position to keep the personal and salary data private and not divulge it to any associate firms or spam the candidate with a standard set of opportunities e-mail (if they haven’t opted-in first). So, with such power (since data is power) comes responsibility and also the essential quality of empathy. When I see this lacking in a recruiter it is a complete turn-off. The candidate is not a cash-cow. If you are looking at making a difference to your life as well as to the candidate’s life, please divulge essential information that would help them decide if your Client’s opportunity can be considered for a short-term or long-term or not at all.
For recruiters who might be new to the role or ones who are single, please factor-in the added element of family in your Candidate’s life. This helps you channelise the Candidate with prospective set of Clients that you might deal with.
The little bit of effort that you invest-in helps you setup a likely Client-Candidate meeting which might eventually turn in to an Offer. Personally being in the technology sphere, recruiters are more people-centric than my own colleagues or myself. So, use the interactions to your advantage. Technology people do look at things in a different way from that of a person from sales or marketing or advertising background.
Last but not the least — dishonesty doesn’t help the candidate and the recruiter alike. So, let us both “try” to be honest. If you don’t know much about the Client or the Client’s team that you are representing, be upfront as much as you would expect the Candidate to be regarding their skills.
I wish you the very best in refining your role as much as I do in my position,
Regards.
