Crushed When Candidates Say No? 6 Impactful Tips to Recruitment Success
You are working on filling a senior position. It’s a niche role and there aren’t many people in the market who would fit the bill well. You have finished mapping the talent landscape and the list of probable names looks small. However, there are a couple of people on that list who you believe are great fits for the role and you want to get cracking on it. After a couple of attempts at headhunting, you finally have your ‘perfect candidate’ on the line. Your heart sings, you pitch the job and a minute into the pitch the candidate cuts in and says, “Sorry, I am not looking for a change." This leaves one promising candidate down and one recruiter dejected.
How often do we experience this scenario? I would risk saying ‘quite often.' I have wondered if there is a better way to pitch or a better way to start a conversation or a better time in the day to contact someone. Over the years I have stumbled on some tips which have improved my scorecard and my candidate engagements. Here are couple for you to try. I would love to hear if it worked well for you or if you have some tips of your own to share.
- Network First, Headhunt Next- Often when we come across our ‘dream candidate’ we give in to our first impulse of connecting right away. This, in non-recruiting parlance, is called a cold call and the most common reaction to such intrusion is a push back. Instead, the next time you want to call someone right away, take a couple of minutes to see if there is someone in your network who can introduce you to the candidate. The fact that there is someone you know in common establishes credibility, making the call less intrusive and more likely be received with an open mind.
- Email before Calling- Okay, so you have checked your network and there is no one who knows your candidate well enough to do the introductions. World is in a hurry. There are delivery pressures to cope up with. So, understandably when you have the number at hand, you call. Well, not everyone likes surprises and when we call out of the blue we have no way of knowing in what mental frame we are likely to catch the other person in. So, what happens when you unfortunately catch the person when he/she is busy or preoccupied? The quickest (and perhaps the politest) way to excuse oneself is to say “Sorry, I am not interested. Thank you." I have heard this multiple times from candidates, to believe that the rejection might very well be for the intrusion and not for the job you are pitching. So next time, try emailing in advance and let the person know you would be calling. Even if you catch the person at the wrong time, at least it’s not a surprise and hopefully the response is less impatient.
- Empathize – So, what do we do if we neither have the luxury of an introduction, nor an email address to warm the lead? Well then, you need to do what you need to do; but do it with empathy. Be cognizant that you might be intruding and say so upfront. Most people appreciate that you are sensitive to their situation and I have seen the barriers come down, pretty quickly. Even if the person is busy, it is more likely that you would hang up with a better time to call.
- Establish Credibility, Build Connect – “Ok, you seem to be a genuine person and want to talk to me, but I still haven’t figured out what is it that you want from me and if you are someone I should know.” My tip to crack this is to establish credibility very quickly into the conversation, perhaps within the first two minutes. Most often, as a candidate I might not be interested in the job you are pitching, but would still want to stay connected with you because you seem to be the kind of person who can find me the job when I want it. Also, we all know search is not about here and now. It is all about building connects and relationships with the high performers and the best minds in the industry. If you can establish a connection, you have a better chance of getting introduced to someone else, getting references, better understanding the talent landscape or perhaps even recruiting the person down the road.
- When You Still Hear a ‘No’ – Take heart. There will always be those ‘perfect’ candidates that you won’t be able to convert. As long as you have established a connection, I would say it was a good call. There is always another time. If it is someone I know and my customer would definitely want to meet, then I might be tempted to try again after a few days just to be sure I didn’t catch the person on a bad day the first time. It’s often not what one says but how it is said that establishes comfort.
- Be Genuine – There is something about genuineness that is endearing. And most people can see through a fake veneer. Recruiting is not about filling a job. It is about building someone’s career and impacting our customer’s business. When seen in this light, the call is no longer about pitching the job and getting the candidate to say ‘Yes,' it is about knowing the person, their success factors, their aspirations and their limitations and then, mutually evaluating whether saying ‘yes’ would be a step in the right direction for both the candidate and for the customer.
Happy Recruiting.
With more than a decade of experience in recruiting top talent, Ms. Panini Balaji, brings a wealth of recruitment experience and knowledge to her client base. She is a Principal and heads the Allegis Partners business in India. She works with clients in diverse segments such as IT, Insurance, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Automotives and Energy; management levels ranging from C-suite to VP and Director levels; across Sales, Finance, Operations, IT, Business Management, HR and Recruitments. In the past few years, she has been extensively partnering with large global corporations, who are establishing operations in India, to define their talent acquisition strategy and helping them attract and hire top leadership talent.Prior to joining Allegis Partners, Ms. Panini worked in the U.S. for a global IT implementation and outsourcing company, where she was in charge of recruiting talent for the company. Prior to this, she was an entrepreneur, recruiting for a couple of years in India, catering to Bangalore based IT MNCs.Ms. Panini earned a Bachelor’s degree as well as a Master’s degree in chemistry from Banaras Hindu University (BHU). She is passionate about executive search and is often invited as a speaker, to talk about recruiting best practices and leadership hiring. Ms Panini currently lives in the silicon valley of India, Bangalore, with her husband and kids. She also enjoys reading, networking and travelling.
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