Dim the lights or turn them down low. I really need your full attention while reading the lines below. Yes, I am talking to you, the one looking for a job and fed up with ghosting and unanswered emails. Dim the lights, let these five truths every recruiter wish you’d know get through to your soul.
1. We care
We care and understand if you’re having a hard time and your finances are pressuring you. In return for your trust, we will do our best to find that perfect job for your career and lifestyle. We are people’s people.
We might have 30 interviews for a single job and we have to decide who is cut out for it in the first stage, who is prepared to undertake all the responsibilities and who will click with the employer’s team.
If you get the job, keep in touch with us. We care about the progress of each of our candidates and we want to know if you are having troubles or if you are happy with your new job. So give us feedback (on Twitter or Facebook) and help us improve our service.
2. Often we are not the decision makers
You may see us on the day of your interview in our black suit, looking cool and smiling, hoping to take your anxiety away. But it is not as glamorous as it might seem. No “Mad Men” day sipping martinis and taking calls with our feet on our desk in the corner office.
Just like a wise man has said, “recruiters are psychologists, pastors, confidantes, negotiators, matchmakers, orators, salespeople, peacemakers, visionaries, business owners, friends, counselors, coaches, career builders...and that's just on Monday.”
We want to call you in the morning and give you the big news! There is nothing worse than starting our day by rejecting someone who really wanted the job. Unfortunately, most of the time we are not the decision makers and it’s not up to us.
3. We are different individuals
Just because you’ve had a bad experience with one of us, doesn’t mean we’re all the same.
You might have had a bad experience with one recruiter. Perhaps he had a bad day. As I said above, we don’t start the day drinking a dry martini with a twist. Instead, we are ordinary people enjoying a warm cup of tea with milk.
One of the most stressful things our candidates can do is to reject the job in the final stage of the interview process. Imagine the case below:
We have the first interview with a candidate and he seems thrilled about this specific job and he also looks good on paper. So we inform the employer that we have a good prospect and he has an interview with this candidate too (among others). They have an instant click and the employer thinks he is the perfect man for his team.
Naturally, the next day we are calling the candidate to let him know the good news. We have the largest smile on our faces. The sun gets brighter. Everyone in the office notice how happy we are! All the time we invested in this particular person has come to a successful end!
So we call our candidate and we tell him that all his efforts have been rewarded! And he informs us that he is not interested anymore… *angrily sipping from a cup of tea*
We are only humans.
4. Silence is not rejection with us
A common problem in the process of getting hired is the lack of feedback.
You’d like instant feedback and on the spot acceptance (see point 2). We know this and that is why you will receive feedback every time you will ask for it.
We are a recruitment company working for the people. We want to help people get jobs and help their family and financial situation in the process too. Consultants also want to put candidates in to exciting roles, so we need to ensure we pick the right person for each vacancy.
If you haven’t heard back from us, be sure to send us a follow-up email. Get involved and help us to help you. Write us an email or send us a tweet on @WestrayRecruit
5. We want to love you!
As a fellow recruiter has once said: “recruiting is art, not science!”
A complete and updated CV will put you in front of others, because we can evaluate you better in relation to the experience and skills needed for each job.
But data can only get us so far! We want to know your personality, we want to love you and recommend you further. So be honest with us. Don’t lie in your CV, but also don’t spend the entire interview quoting numbers. Interact with us! It’s in your best interest to get a job you will love and be excited to wake up in the morning for.
A representative from Westray will be in touch with you shortly.