Normally, a lot of people are fairly reluctant to meet their chosen recruitment partner, whether you’re a candidate or a client. This is something that has always bewildered me; as a recruiter our job is either to take your business to the market and find you the ideal candidate or it’s to take you, as a candidate to the market and find you the ideal job. How do you expect us to do that properly using only a piece of paper (job spec or a CV)?!
We are living in a job market where candidates take absolutely everything into consideration, it isn’t just about the bottom-line pay anymore. There are so many factors that influence a candidate’s decision on whether to be put forward to a job. These are genuine questions I have been asked:
- What are the offices like?
- Is the office vibrant?
- How many people are in the office?
- What are the facilities like?
- What floor will I be on – is there a lift?
- Do they have break out space?
- Is there an element of hot desking?
- Is there a kitchen?
- How loud is the office?
Now these things may seem remedial to you, but they are each points that people have genuinely taken into account when looking for a new role.
Another point to make is, (as I’m sure you are all aware) recruitment is a form of sales. We, as recruiters are tasked with selling two differing products – a candidate or a client. If you’re reading this then the chances are you fall into either of those brackets. If you have ever sold anything in your life, you will probably agree it is very difficult to sell a product without seeing it. The two aspects that make a salesperson good are Confidence and Knowledge. Confidence in the product they are representing and knowledgeable when it comes to that product. If you want the market to have an accurate representation of what your business is like or what your best traits are as an employee then they will need to see it – fact, and they will need to get to know it past the piece of paper.
Looking at the stats across GKR as a business, we have made multiple placements with organisations that we meet with regularly, it makes our job easier, quicker and as a client you end up getting a much better service as a result. We have also placed hundreds of candidates that we have been able to get to know properly and we have helped them to find the perfect right role and to settle in effectively, some even on multiple occasions since. So, the next time a recruiter asks you to take 20 mins out of your day to come over for a coffee, please take a moment to think about the positive impact it could have on your business or your career…
