Best Practices from a Recruiter's Side

I was somewhat heartened by an article posted by Allison Boyce on her blog at ERE.net. Boyce is a sourcing manager at Deloitte Services, and her article details things candidates hate about the recruiting process, as well as things they love. What's heartening is that Boyce demonstrates that thoughtful recruiters know it's not a good thing when a firm disappears after early communications with its job candidates. She writes:

I'm willing to hear arguments that being service-oriented in this process is going to reduce the quality of the process, the applicant pool, and the hiring manager's ability to be selective. That's a cop-out. It's harder to do this in a high-volume, low-level environment.

But your role can be automated when you refuse to be the human buffer between the process and your candidate. If the worst outcome you get is that every candidate that you interact with wants you to represent them as their Agent for Life, that is not a bad thing.

In the future, it is the person with the candidate connections who will win, not the person who created the horrendous process. bet that organizations unwilling to change or analyze the process will not win the next generational wave of top talent.

I think this all indicates that good recruiters and good HR people recognize the importance of professional behavior, and will conduct themselves accordingly. It's certainly important for you, as a candidate, to make sure you demonstrate your fit with an organization (as one of the article's commentators says), but it's as important for you to maintain your professional demeanor, and approach the process as a conversation among equals.

10 Things Candidates Hate; 10 Things They Love [ERE]