4 Tips to Maintain Candidate Interest in a Competitive Environment

“The candidate seemed interested a few days ago! What changed?”

A recruiter spends hours trying to get in contact with a candidate. He or she spends even more time negotiating with candidate and client, selling the position, and arranging interviews. Everything is going well, and the candidate seems to be on board. Suddenly, the candidate backs out of the deal.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this is a common situation for today’s recruiters. In such a candidate-driven market, every individual has a plethora of employment options and a range of compensation offers. Often, he or she is approached by other organizations during the recruiting process. Sometimes, the candidate takes the other offer.

In order to avoid losing candidates throughout the recruitment process, recruiters must adopt a more cautious, involved attitude. In other words, the selling of a position doesn’t end when the candidate claims to be interested. The recruiting process continues until the candidate is officially hired.

In order to obtain successful hires, a recruiter must employ the following tactics:

1. KEEP THE CANDIDATE’S ATTENTION

One of the biggest mistakes a recruiter can make involves contacting a candidate, gaining the candidate’s interest, and considering the deal finished. This leaves the candidate open to various other offers. By maintaining the candidate’s attention, a recruiter is more likely to keep his/her offer at the front of the candidate’s mind while he or she is approached by the competition.

2. CONSTANT COMMUNICATION

Many recruiters fail to keep the candidate updated on the hiring process, causing him or her to underestimate the seriousness of the offer. The candidate begins to look for other options or consider remaining in their current job due to a lack of accountability on the recruiter’s part. Rather than leaving the candidate open to other preying recruiters, maintain communication throughout the entire hiring process.

3. SHORTEN THE PROCESS

When the recruiting process becomes too lengthy, whether through interviews, lack of communication, or the employer’s decision-making, it is more likely that a candidate will lose interest. He or she might see the entire process as too much of a hassle and begin to lose faith in the process. Shorten the process where possible to avoid candidate drop-off due to wasted time.

4. CONTINUOUS SELLING

As with any major decision or life event, candidates are highly likely to get cold feet during the recruiting process. The recruiter’s job is to keep selling the position. Simply presenting the offer at the beginning of the process is not enough for a candidate who is likely to have doubts, questions, or anxieties. A recruiter’s job is to be there along the way to answer questions, add reassurance, and sell, sell, sell.

By shifting recruiters’ attitudes about the candidate experience, such professionals can avoid losing prospective hires to competitors. In the long run, this saves time, money, and, most of all, the frustration that comes with a failed recruitment process. In essence, maintaining contact and providing a satisfactory candidate experience benefits both candidate and recruiter.