Within the last few years, the trend in recruiting is to try to accomplish your connections via inmail, email or text. My experience, however, is that making time to have direct conversations with both the client and candidate, addressing their specific needs separately, can make ALL the difference in driving consistently successful outcomes over time.

With clients, truly engaged recruiters should have a meaningful conversation regarding important topics such as:

The clients’ recruiting process

Any challenges regarding any past recruitment initiative(s)

Company branding and employee experiences – Is their company a great place to work? Why?

The clients’ interview process. Does it really work? Why or why not?

Offer acceptance/close rates

Are the expectations of the new job actually met? Does the client actually have a conversation   with all new hires about the newly filled role? 

Such conversations are also a golden opportunity for the recruiter to provide valued advice, at no charge, regarding current trends and their own personal experience regarding what works and what doesn’t work. Having a discussion with the client and sharing information also helps build trust, rapport and alignment that is critical to success.

With promising candidates, recruiters should explore many intangibles that aren’t listed on a resume, such as drive, ambition, passion and grit. Having a detailed conversation is labor-intensive but can really impact whether or not the recruiter is pursuing the right candidate – and whether the candidate is pursuing the right job.

The best recruiters are intuitive and have the ability to read candidates well. They are also able to quickly determine what factors are important to each candidate in order to guide them appropriately. But, even the best recruiters cannot work their magic without having real conversations with candidates and clients.

Applicant tracking systems, job boards, LinkedIn, and complicated online search queries are all fine recruiting tools, but make no mistake successful recruiting still requires more than technological prowess. It requires a personal touch.