Recruiting is a huge piece of the puzzle when it comes to running a successful business, but failing to implement best practices in even a few of the steps required to be an all-star recruiter can lead to serious problems. For starters, hiring the wrong candidate can mean productivity issues, concerns when dealing with clients, and in-office attitude friction. Aside from that, the costs involved with bringing on a new employee can be massive, meaning selecting the wrong person can put your company right back at the starting line, only now with more wasted money and time invested.a

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Are You Honest in Your Recruiting Efforts?

One of the best ways to remedy potential recruiting concerns is establishing honesty from the beginning. It may seem easier to attract candidates by bending the truth in your company’s online job ads, but this can lead to serious issues down the road. For example, if your job ad states that your company provides opportunities for growth when it actually promotes very few workers, a new hire will be more likely to quit and leave your business in the lurch upon realizing the truth.

Likewise, if a job ad for your company claims that you’re looking for innovative forward-thinkers, yet you never present opportunities for employees to come to you with ideas, you’re likely going to lose bright minds.

In a nutshell, be upfront and honest in your recruiting efforts. This applies not only to online ads, but also to in-person meetings and interviews. Only provide real, detailed information about open positions and your company, and never lie about key facts, such as job descriptions, salary expectations, or growth opportunities.

Be Prepared to Answer Questions

When it comes to recruiting, you’re the expert … always remember that. As such, you need to be able to provide candidate’s with detailed information regarding positions for which they are being considered. What does the position pay? To whom does the position answer to? How many people are on the team which the candidate will work with? Keep in mind that candidates these days are often in need of detailed answers prior to interviewing because employers are being more choosy than ever. The economy continues to drag along, despite what the media says, so employers are able to say no to more candidates than they say yes to.

In addition, avoid the temptation to oversell the position. It’s hard enough as a job seeker that having a recruiter make wild promises that never come true can be a real downer. To add to this, your reputation as a recruiter can really suffer after even a few broken promises.

Make an Appearance

Another important step in being an all-star recruiter is to accompany the candidate to the initial interview. This serves two purposes, including comforting the candidate while strengthening the relationship between yourself and the client.

Doing this also gives you the opportunity to meet the client in person if your relationship has been based solely on the phone or other remote communication. Humans are innately attuned to seeing one another face-to-face when it comes to trust, so making an appearance could potentially help you and your business, even if the particular candidate is not chosen.

Be Prepared for Unprepared Candidates

However qualified, the truth is that not all candidates are going to know how to prepare for or show up to interviews. Some candidates may not understand the value of being properly dressed, yet others may show up with bad breath. As a result, keep an emergency tool kit available, especially if you can meet with the candidate prior to the interview or accompany him or her.

Because not all candidates may be prepared for a proper interview, keep things like breath mints, ties, scarves, pens, notebooks, and deodorant. The truth is that there will be candidates who will need these things sooner or later. In keeping a candidate toolkit, you can potentially avoid disaster if someone whom you recommended is woefully unprepared or if an emergency pops up.

Get Your Act Together

In order to become a world-class recruiter, take some time to practice in front of others. Even if you’ve been working within the recruiting industry for a while, it never hurts to get in some more practice to decide what works and what doesn’t. Training and experience over the past decade may have landed you the perfect job, but without keeping up on the latest standards, you could be falling behind in customer service as well as government regulations.

Provide Advice on the Handshake

If you really want to get candidates placed, instruct them on what it means to offer a firm handshake. A handshake is a typical sign of greeting in the United States, and the firmness of you grip when shaking hand may deliver a much larger picture as to who you are, both as a candidate and a recruiter.

A limp handshake, either from the recruiter or the candidate, sets a meeting off to a poor start. Confidence is found in a firm handshake and eye contact, so candidates should be encouraged to offer both. As a recruiter accompanying a candidate on an interview, remember that you are representing your brand in all that you do, so don’t take a backseat.

The goal as a recruiter is to get your candidate placed, but the end result is to keep you employed. The abovementioned steps are a part of the process, but they are by no means the end of the process. You need to ensure that you match goals between the right candidate and the right company in order to bring about a harmonious relationship. Failing to do so may not only lead to dissatisfaction with your relationship between you and various candidates, but it could also lead to future relations between your firm and clients or potential clients.

Beyond being a resource to job seekers, what technologies can recruiters utilize to find the best matches for an employer’s job openings?