When you are looking for a new job or a new employee, having a team of dedicated professionals helping you is a great way to lessen the stress of the search while securing quality matches. Recruiters are there to support both the needs of the employers and the future employees, so they make the perfect match-makers.
After a match is initially made, it is not uncommon that recruiters can sometimes get pushed out of the line of communication. While this is not inherently detrimental, it can make negotiations and arrangements difficult as the hiring process moves forward. Keep reading to learn why it is crucial to keep your recruiters involved throughout the entirety of the hiring process and why you should always talk to them first.
Big Choices
The choices you want to discuss with your recruiter are rarely small. You may be looking for a new job, meaning that you need to find something that fits your personal, career-based, and financial needs. Or, you may be looking for a new employee, meaning that you need someone who meshes well with the company culture while still providing excellent service. In either case, recruiters are there to bring these needs to life by matching the needs of candidates and companies together so both sides walk away with their needs fulfilled.
A common misconception that people working with recruiters can have is the idea that recruiters simply make the introduction and leave. The truth is that recruiters work with both sides throughout the process to ensure that all needs are met, communication is solid, and the agreement is signed by all parties so that no one ghosts or feels like they have wasted their time. The best way to ensure that you are using your recruiter to their greatest ability is to keep them in the circle through constant and primary communication.
Communications at this stage may sound like they should go to the future employee or employer first, but the recruiter is there to act as a go-between for this exact reason. Language that may seem normal to each party can come across incorrectly to those not used to it, meaning that things get lost in translation. Recruiters are there to talk through decisions with each party and ensure that all aspects of these decisions are understood before relaying it to the other side. This cuts down the risks of miscommunication or rash decisions, both of which can be deal breakers.
Big Changes
It can seem like a recruiter being dramatic when we refer to a slip in communication being a dealbreaker, but the truth is that it is far more common than people think. The smallest lapses in judgment or questions to the role can effectively kill an entire deal or even go so far as to blacklist candidates or companies for an accidental bad impression. Working with a recruiter helps keep the balance in check and ensure that both sides are aware of all that is happening, but not without first ensuring that what each side means is what is being said.
In cases with candidates, recruiters often hear that candidates asked for something new mid-negotiation or signed contracts without discussing it with the recruiter. While these might sound like a candidate taking initiative to keep their future employers in the loop, it often backfires on the candidate. Once a company is informed about information or something is signed, a recruiter’s ability to help is severely limited. This means that we cannot leverage a candidate’s skills to get them the best deals or soften the blow of hard news that could mean renegotiation. While we can try to help recover any fallout that can come from this, a recruiter’s authority as someone who speaks on behalf of a candidate is greatly lessened in this situation.
In the case of a company reaching out directly to a candidate, we often see major miscommunications that can lead to ghosting or second guessing from the candidate’s side. When companies reach out to candidates directly and without the recruiter preparing the candidate to receive information, candidates can feel rushed, panicked, and unprepared. This often leads to candidates panic-calling their recruiters, which leaves recruiters to play pick-up and try to solve an issue that they did not know was happening, or they might determine that the situation is more difficult than the opportunity is worth, leading them to stop answering any communication from all parties (AKA ghosting).
In either case, both sides have a lot to lose when their middleman is left out of the conversation. Minimize this risk by keeping your recruiters involved and talking about next steps and communications with them first. If you are looking for dedicated recruiters that are ready to help you find a new candidate today, then click here. If you are looking for recruiters who are ready to find you a new role, then send us an updated resume here or take a look at our open jobs list and apply today!
