Let’s face it, as a recruiter you are going to be spinning a lot of plates and you’ll be forgiven for dropping one every now and again, but our advice for preventing and detecting backdoor hires is that you always bring your a-Game to candidate experience! Going the extra mile could be the difference between writing a deal, and building strong relationships; versus stone-cold nothing.
You know this already, but that is why we think you should never ghost your candidates. Don’t drop the ball on communications. If they were good enough to get submitted to a job or get to interview, then they are good enough to provide feedback to. Simple.
As a recruiter, your candidates are your portfolio, your body of work, your life-line – so please keep them on side! Here are our top 3 reasons why you shouldn’t ghost your candidates:
- Aside from it just being the right thing to do, it ensures they remember, respect and recommend you (trying to find that unicorn candidate? It may well be that ghosted candidate’s sister!)
- People buy from people, so it is common sense to treat people you do business with well. Your candidate might not work out for this job, but treated well they are more likely to come back to you in the future; with more experience and looking for a higher level role or even in their shiny new position as a hiring manager (new client anybody?)
- If things go pear-shaped, a cared for candidate will be on your side! This one is clearly a favourite for us, as the backdoor hire experts. A strong relationship with your candidate is crucial should you find yourself in the tricky position of tackling a backdoor hire. A well looked after candidate is your ally on the inside and at least a good source of information and evidence if/when needed in court.
Communication is key. Make the call or send the email, but make sure you give the candidate the feedback they will be expecting. Much like a bad date, if you had an interview for a job you didn’t get, you’d still expect to hear something. Is this the Britishness coming through – politeness or fear of disappointing someone is our default setting? Whether that’s the case or not, as those at the frontline of recruitment law, fighting against backdoor hires and disputed fees, our advice is clear: take the hit, give the feedback and don’t just disappear then expect the candidate to be ok with that.
