We’ve all been there, especially on Linkedin, when you receive a generic recruitment message or email, that you know has been sent out in a scattershot manner in order to capture some candidates who may be possibly interested in leaving their current position for pastures new.
Why does this happen? Well, as we have previously mentioned in our blogpost Why Don’t Recruiters Have Anyone ‘On The Books’ Anymore? we pointed out that with the modern state of recruitment, the days of having files on prospective candidates are gone and the majority of recruitment happens via targeting jobseekers on job boards.
The world has moved on in the decades since the 1970s, with job security low, worker turnover high across industries and the internet and automated technology meaning that connections can be made without face-to-face contact.
The acceleration meant that people were more accepting of impersonal communication. The pandemic flipped the power from the employers to the employees and with that, some of their pet peeves are now being pushed back against.
Even though people tolerated being treated like just one in a group of prospects, they did not enjoy it. A recruiter working for a recruitment firm will be set targets in terms of the amount of people they contact and ultimately how many they place in jobs. In the 21st century everything must be measured and these metrics are how a recruiter is measured. Somewhere along the way, the candidates and their feelings got lost. Yes, recruiters need to reach out to multiple people at a time, but it is not about the ‘why’, but the ‘how’ of it.
The focus should always be on quality rather than quantity.
When a recruiter sends out one of those messages, they know for certain that the vast majority who receive it will not be happy to see it. And they know if the ones who do reply back, most, if not all, will not progress to the next stage. There is a major fault in the thinking surrounding these messages. There is an inefficiency to this process. It wastes everyone’s time for the possibility of possibly one candidate proceeding.
There needs to be quality, not only in the candidates but in the communication with said candidates.
Viewing the candidates as a faceless mass and also as an infinite resource is the biggest fault here. When targeting these candidates it is so important to understand that they are the most important part of the process.
Candidates have work histories, soft and hard skills, stories to tell. There are few who could realistically fit the job spec exactly so it is worth taking the time to consider where you may find ones not actively looking on the job boards who may be looking to switch for the right opportunity. Those individuals will not take kindly to being ‘finessed’ with a totally generic and frankly cold message.
Prospects can see a mass email a mile away but it is not necessarily the only reason they will not wish to deal with that recruiter. Many of us have been left out of the loop when it comes to the progress of their application. How many recruiters have seemed to fall off the face of the earth after a positive phone conversation? It does seem that contingency recruiters imagine that candidates have insurmountable amounts of positive energy but it will wear even the most positive person down.
Relationships need to be built. Trust needs to be renewed. Credibility needs to be earned, or at least borrowed from an expert recruitment partner.
Businesses should bear some of the responsibility for not moving away from the idea that millions of prospects is the best way to do things. They are set in their ways and that needs to change. Someone who knows what they are doing will provide five perfectly selected candidates. Throwing those candidates into a meat grinder situation with dozens sourced by other recruiters who are vying for the same commission cannot work. The process must be refined and it must respect the candidates.
The funnel systems are failing so now it is time to look at the situation soberly and commit to finding the best, with the best help, and making it about relationships again.
Curious about how Zenshin Talent can help your organisation? Contact us today for a no-strings conversation about your needs and our experience.