As the market has shifted to a focus on clients and business development, there is a significant risk of declining service and engagement with candidates.

This is poor at a human level but also commercially unwise because the wheel will turn, and the candidates you desperately need will have long memories.

There are many points of potential failure in candidate experience, but these are three of the biggest:

• The period between the initial interview with us and the first temp assignment or perm role referral.

This is critical. The candidate has taken time to meet with us. We have spent an hour together. A relationship is established. Communication expectations are set. This is when the recruiter must deliver. The candidate is vulnerable and keen to hear the next steps. The recruiter needs to actively engage, whether there is an assignment or role on offer or not. Keep them informed. Advise on the market. Advise on progress with their job search. Check-in: ‘Has anything changed since we last spoke’. If a candidate ‘ghosts’ you later in the process, spend less time lamenting what a flake they are and more time examining how you disrespected them at the beginning.

• The post-first-interview stage after a permanent (or contract) role interview.

This is a burning moment of truth. The candidate has seen the client. They are ‘dying’ to know more. Many recruiters leave them hanging. This is especially true if the recruiter learns the client does not favour a particular candidate. Or even if the client is slow in reverting with feedback. That is the time to communicate with the talent and manage their expectations. An update with ‘no news’, or even bad news, is better than silence.

• On a long-term temp assignment.

Ironically, a long-term temp will make more money for the recruiter than an enormous perm fee. However, the temp is often never contacted by the agency who placed them. It’s a significant criticism of the staffing industry. Moreover, it’s dumb business. That contractor is generating income for you every day. And in many situations, they are legally your employee! Nurture them. Keep in touch. Show appreciation. They can be your most prominent advocate or vocal critic… to your client.

• When they did not get the job.

Which industry disappoints a higher percentage of customers than ours? We think of ourselves as ‘recruiters‘, but what is the ratio of candidates we recruit into roles compared to the number we screen, interview, or submit? You need to be a great recruiter, yes. However, you also need to be an empathetic, consistent, and morale-building ‘rejecter.’ Truth be told, we are in the rejection business, and classy rejection is a skill worth refining.

To misquote a person much smarter than me, a candidate will remember how you made them feel long after they remember what you said or did.

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