How to Gain Candidate Confidence

Being able to create a good relationship with your candidates is one of the most important aspects of being a recruiter. This requires trust and honesty, which can make or break your connection, as well as risk your placement. Because your candidates rely on you to disclose sensitive information, you must have a high level of trust with them. However, developing trust with your candidates isn't always easy, so here are a few strategies to help you get started.

The job of a recruiter might be a bit of a puzzle. You're there to assist candidates to discover their dream job, but many of them don't trust that you're on their side right away. They may perceive you as someone who is attempting to undercut them on salary or as someone who is simply filling a position as quickly as possible without genuinely caring about their career objectives.

It's obviously awful if the candidate-recruiter interaction begins with such a trust imbalance. If a candidate believes you are hiding facts about a company or that they are treated like a résumé rather than a human being, they will hesitate to work with you.

Meanwhile, establishing candidates' trust has numerous advantages: they will be eager to disclose information about their goals with you so that you can best position them, and they may even provide you with referrals of other potential prospects.

In a neutral environment, start a conversation, not a Q & A.

Interviews have the potential to devolve into a formal type of question-and-answer session. To increase communication, recruiters should engage in a more natural, two-way dialogue. Cynthia LaBarge, Head of Corporate Recruiting at Consilium Staffing, for example, claims that this allows her to "get more (and offer more) information while simultaneously creating a true connection."

Even better, do it outside of your office in a relaxed setting to help candidates feel more at ease. Brad Stultz, the HR coordinator of webshop Totally Promotional, conducts his first interview with a candidate on two sofas in a quiet area of the facility, putting them "far more at ease, which translates to a better rapport."

Understand their wants and needs.

Each candidate has a distinct set of wants and needs that they are looking to fulfill in their new position. At the very beginning of an interview, focus on understanding who they are and what they are seeking in their next position and company. Inquire about what they value in a company and culture, what they want to learn and experience in their next position, what their long-term goals are, and how they achieve their best results. By taking the time to understand who they are and their expectations and motivations, not only will you have a better understanding of their fit and interest in your company, but you will be able to demonstrate how you can meet their needs. 

Be open and honest about your career.

Another strategy to establish a level playing field with a candidate is to provide background information on yourself and your own career history during the interview.

Recruiters talk about their career story straight at the start of an interview, which is referred to as a "recruiter credibility statement." This level of transparency counteracts the authoritative dynamic that can put candidates on the defensive.

It is not unreasonable to expect you to be upfront and honest with your applicants regarding the hiring and interviewing processes. Tell them the truth about everything, from salary to the drawbacks of a position, since managing their expectations and maintaining complete transparency will go a long way. When your candidates realize you're not withholding any crucial information from them and that you're on their side, they'll automatically begin to trust you.

Be transparent about the interview and the job.

Transparency has gone a long way for recruiters who claim to have built trust. The trick is, to be honest with yourself: Give candidates all of the key information they need about the job upfront and then tell them how the process will go.

To do so, Sarah Dabby advocates being open about the job's benefits and drawbacks, which is crucial for candidates deciding whether the position and organization are a good fit. For example, Dabby, for example, will be candid about the company's size and stage, why it's hiring for the position, where it's struggling, and what its values are.

On the second point, Kristen McAlister, an executive recruiter, recommends putting out the general calendar right away, including when prospects should expect to hear from you and how frequently you'll communicate.

Ask open-ended queries.

Start with more positive questions that reflect a curiosity about the candidate's work style and aspirations, rather than mind-bending, traditionally difficult interview questions. The goal is to make them feel at ease and regard you as an informal advisor who cares about them.

"What is their ideal work environment?" LaBarge asks candidates and "How do they prefer to be led, or what leadership style do they favor?"

Active listening should be done.

Recruiters are frequently caught up in listening for the "correct" replies or making snap decisions based on the presence or absence of specific responses. While it is critical that the candidate have specific experience, competencies, and technical knowledge that are critical to the position's success, you may miss out on valuable information or new perspectives if you don't pay attention to each of their responses—no matter how simple the question may be.

Active listening is a talent that needs you to demonstrate that you understand what is being said by exploring for more information and providing feedback to the speaker. In the interview process, it's also vital not to jump to conclusions too quickly. Instead of using the following responses to prove your point, try asking further questions to discredit your claim. By doing so, you gain access to additional information that will help you make the best decision possible. These basic approaches keep you interested in their views and ideas, making them feel important and valued. In a commercial partnership, this will naturally result in a higher level of devotion to the relationship and a stronger bond.

Personalize the Hiring Process

When you first start the hiring process, you'll almost certainly have a large number of applications, making it practically impossible to meet with each one individually. Your company should make the hiring process as personal as possible when you begin to narrow down your possibilities and focus on the best individuals.

Simply said, no prospective employee wants to feel like they're simply another transaction – and many of the most frequently asked interview questions can give them that impression. Immersive interviews are a useful method to employ. It will help you gather more valuable information quickly by asking fascinating and customized questions. Although designing the experience may take more time and effort on your part, the return on investment for your company will be clear as you attract the finest leaders for the role and culture while reducing the danger of a recruiting mistake.

Empathy and gratitude should be expressed.

A person's decision to change occupations is a crucial turning point in their career. While it may be an exciting time for some, they will undoubtedly be concerned and stressed while they seek new employment. When it comes to nurturing the relationship and building trust with your top applicants, demonstrating empathy will go a long way. Ask them how they're feeling about the process, and use this as an opportunity to evaluate their emotional intelligence, which is a good sign of their capacity to lead and work with other team members.

In addition to demonstrating empathy, expressing gratitude for their time and work at each stage of the process will help your company create trust. While not everyone you interview will be a good fit for your company, you should treat them as networking opportunities with the potential to introduce you to other great people. Choosing to treat every candidate in this manner will turn them into advocates, which will be useful when companies like Glassdoor or LinkedIn ask for feedback on your procedure and firm.

Reference

The opinions and feelings of your candidates about how you perform as a recruiter are just as crucial as getting them a job. You can start creating trust with potential recruits by displaying testimonials on your website. They can then create their own views about you based on positive experiences from past candidates on your website or on review sites like Trustpilot and Rated Recruitment.

Building trust with your candidates will allow you to grow your relationship, enhance recommendations, and improve the candidate experience, all of which are critical components of any recruitment strategy. Always keep in mind that it's all about them!