Employers: How to Lose Quality Candidates

Hiring Managers are a Part of the Process, too!

Many recruiters (including us) pride themselves on being able to “deliver the goods” - research, qualify, present, and manage the search process in a timely manner. Our efforts create a “win-win-win”: the recruiter fulfills his/her requirements related to the search assignment, therefore getting paid; the candidate gets a great career opportunity; and the employer gets a qualified, productive team member in a timely manner.

Seems easy, right? Well, at least on paper it does. But everyone in the process has experienced cogs in the wheel, which impedes the process and makes it a frustrating experience for everyone.

Here are a few examples of how employers can clog the up the process.

1. Set Unrealistic Expectations – criteria for the assignment scope consists of these 3 basics: candidate qualifications, compensation package, and deadline for filling the position. If these are not realistic, for example the compensation is well below market average for the same position, this will drag out the search process and force the recruiter to present candidates that don’t meet all of the qualifications. In turn, the hiring manager becomes disappointed with the recruiter’s performance, and the candidates presented.

2. Create a Vague Scope and Description – this item ties in with #1 above. Vague jobs descriptions are a signal that, quite possibly, the hiring manager is not sure what they need the new hire for. A bit of thought upfront to determine what the needs are will help to better define the position and the candidate qualifications. Good recruiters can help define this. Remember we are entrenched in your industry and know how it works.

3.Change Territories/Locations Mid-Search – this sounds obvious but this actually happens more often than you think. Making changes like this mid-way through the process is significant and essentially creates a new search assignment. All the time and effort up to the point of change is wasted. While sometimes this cannot be helped, hiring managers need to understand that this sets the fulfillment timeline back and clears the candidate pipeline to zero.

4.Drag Out the Interview Process –a lag of several weeks between phone screens and face-to-face interviews is a sure way to lose qualified candidates. Keep in mind that qualified candidates are in demand and if they are interested in your position they are also interested in other positions, including those of your competitors. If you like a candidate get him/her through the process as quickly as possible-time lags create opportunities for candidates to lose excitement about what you have to offer and for them to accept another position.

5. Stop/Start the Search Assignment – again, sometimes this cannot be helped but when you place an assignment on hold 3-4 weeks into the process, the candidates we have sourced will likely move on to another available position. It will also cause them to think twice about joining your firm as it sends a message that this is not a real opportunity.

Candidates: The Pipeline Process and what to expect

You submitted your resume, responded to our phone call, and now you are in "The Pipeline."

If you are in "The Pipeline", this means you are being considered for one of our clients’ opportunities. Mostly, it refers to the time period when we have determined you are a suitable candidate for the position, and you have expressed interest in moving forward through the process. Here are some tips to help us make the process go more smoothly for everyone.

1. Submit your most recent resume
Yes, we have your resume on file. However, it may be a resume from 6 months ago (or longer) and may not include a recent job change, promotion, or new address. Maybe we just need additional information. If we request you add your education information (which you left off your last submission) or describe your current EMR experience in more detail, please do it. Quickly.

If we ask for these things it is because we know the employer will be looking for it. We will not submit your information to the employer until we receive that updated resume.

2. Commit to the Interview
Not just the date/time/location but make sure you are prepared before the interview and focused during the interview.

A good recruiter will prepare you for the interview; usually the day before it’s scheduled. It's also acceptable for you to contact the recruiter to confirm the date, time, location hiring manager name(s). It's also a good idea to ask if there are any talking points to make sure you hit with the hiring manager.

Treat each interview with the same commitment, whether a phone screen with HR or a face-to-face with the direct Hiring Manager.


3. It’s OK to follow up (within reason)
A good recruiter will inform you of the process and approximate timeline of events before submitting your resume. If it has been a few days, or even a week, without a response from us, it typically means we have not received a response from the hiring manager.

If it’s been a while (and I mean several days, not hours) since you have received an update, contact us. Leave us a voicemail or an email. Then wait a while before doing it again.

This is where the trust begins. You have to trust that we are following up with our client and trying to keep things moving. That is our job, and everyone benefits from it. We will contact you when we have something to tell you.

4. Let Us Know if your situation changes
If your situation changes while you are in the Pipeline please contact us as soon as possible. Examples of this include interviewing for another position, receiving an offer for another job, or changes in your personal situation which may affect your job search.

Do not withhold this information for fear we will pull you from the process. We won’t unless you withdraw from consideration or your situation makes you no longer able to perform in the position.

5. Contact us after the phone interview/face-to-face interview has concluded
We want to hear how it went – we want feedback from both you and our client so we receive well-rounded feedback. It also provides us with a sense of relief – you made it to the interview. It’s also a professional courtesy. Tell is what you spoke about. Where you felt you did well and were you thought you were weakest. If there were some minor bumps we may be able to work those out when we speak with the hiring manager.

We, in essence, run interference between you and the potential employer, so, don't dump us once we connect you with an opportunity and the employer. Allow us to use our negotiation skills to facilitate communication and work out details.

Finally, not hearing from you after the interview suggests a lack of interest. Remember you are not the only one who was interviewed for that position so providing us feedback ensures us you want to stay in the process.

Candidates: When We Call You

Getting to Know You: Part 2 - Getting the Call

Congratulations! You followed our advice in part one (Your Resume) and submitted your resume to us. Your name came up in our search because you matched our first 3 search criteria for our client’s available opportunity: job function, areas of expertise, and location. We quickly reviewed your resume and you seem like a good fit. Here's how to handle the call you receive from us.

Return the Call - If we leave you a voicemail, please extend the courtesy and call us back. Within 24 hours is preferable.

We called because we see you as a likely candidate for our client’s opportunity. The best way to make a good impression and the first step to developing a mutually beneficial relationship with us is to respond when we call. And yes, we will think twice about calling you again, for this or any other opportunity, if you do not return our call.

Talk to us even if you are not job searching -We may be calling you because you seem like someone who might have good referrals.

Even if you are not interested in a job change, you may know someone who is. So go on, spend 10 minutes with us. You are not cheating on your employer, you are networking. And we all know networking is a permanent activity-not one we ignore until we are in the market for a career change. It’s smart to stay in touch with us periodically throughout your career.

You answered the call but it is a bad time to talk -After the short introduction, a good recruiter will always ask if this is a good time to talk. If it is not, be honest and say so. Offer to call the recruiter back at a stated time-then do it.

Any time you cannot speak plainly and devote your full attention to the call just let us know and we can reconnect.

Treat the call seriously -Remember, we work for our clients so we are “on the listen”.

The conversation will likely be casual in tone and our main purpose is to confirm your skill set fits with the opportunity as well as your interest in pursuing it. However, we are also thinking how you will present to our client in an interview. We are listening for energy level, communication skills, and generally making sure you match what’s on your resume.

Speaking of your resume -Yes we have read your resume, but we may not have it in front of us at the time we connect with you. And we read lots and lots of resumes all day long.

So please, remind us of your expertise and years of experience, and anything other tidbits that are relevant to the position and your skill set.

About those Questions we ask -Please, answer our questions, briefly, completely, and honestly.

Do you really not have enough experience with that particular modality? Are you currently located in the required geography but planning a move? Have other interviews or offers pending? Just not interested in the opportunity?

The more honestly and completely you answer the questions the better off everyone is. You. Us. Our Clients. We may discover you are not the right fit for this opportunity but perfect for another one. If we have nothing available at the moment we WILL think of you when we do (remember that database? We put lots of notes into it.)

Lying is just a bad idea all the way around. And yes, lies get flushed out somewhere in the process and then we realize you just wasted everyone’s time. And time is money. Not just for us but for our client and you. Trust us.

Candidates: Help us Find You

Getting to Know You: Part One-Your Resume
(For more on optimizing your resume, see "Resume Myths: Formatting", and "Resume Myths: Content" on our website)

We want to find you. We really do. In fact, we spend much time and effort seeking out qualified candidates to present to our clients.

Where’s the first place we look? Our internal, confidential, proprietary database. If you are not in there, you should be. The easiest way to get there? Submit your resume to us –after you review your resume to make sure you are not committing the following sins:

Keywords -Has someone been telling you to include long lists of keywords in your resume so it will be recognized by computer searches? Please stop.

Yes, resumes are now electronically uploaded into Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), and yes, we use an ATS, too. However, humans still read your resume. Really.

If you are one of the offenders, review the keywords in that paragraph-long list. If, for example, EMR/EHR is in that list, and you in fact DO have experience with that technology, make sure it is included in description of the appropriate position(s) you’ve held. Yes, we and our ATS will see it when we search for that expertise.

Simply listing it on its own does not provide us with a sense of the context, your expertise and experience with it.

In our initial search, we seek these criteria: job function, modalities/fields of expertise, and location. Make absolutely sure your job functions and fields of expertise are included in your resume. Do not be vague, as this does not entice us to call you. If you happen to be a clinical implementation specialist within the EHR or PACS/RIS or CT sectors-we will not know if it is not on your resume.

There is an inherent risk in being too general on your resume-you make us work to hard to determine your skills and, when you do that, we move on

Blind Resumes -We see many of these, and they frustrate us. Blind resumes are those with no name or contact info, and no employer names or position titles in the experience section.

While this “confidential” resume may be appropriate when posting on resume giant sites such as Monster or Career Builder, we need to know who you are (we like to call you by name and treat you like the professional human you are), where you call home and who you’ve worked for and in what capacity.

If you do not want to put your home address on your resume, then get a PO box in the city you live in. Our clients’ career opportunities are located all over the country, and are usually based in one of the 50 states, so we need to know where you are.

Reputable recruiters treat ALL resumes and candidate information as confidential. We do not share your information outside of our firm and never submit your resume to an employer for a position without your prior approval.

Complicated Resume Formatting -Photos, graphics, logos, tables, headers/footers, and multi-color, multi-font text. Back in the days when resumes were submitted, via snail mail, to an HR representative, there were too many articles published suggesting you use as many of these “toys” as possible to make your resume stand out from the resume pile.

Even then it was usually a turn-off. Too many distracting elements overpowered the actual content; making it very difficult for the reader to easily find your qualifications.

Guess what? The ATS software many of us use in the present day has the same issues with these “overloaded” resumes. All of this unnecessary formatting clogs the system and prevents the ATS from extracting the important info mentioned above from your resume and into our database.

Keep it Simple. Please.

Yes, we humans here at TBA do read your resume, but if yours is one we have to hand-input or reformat, it delays processing and potentially places your resume at the bottom of the pile-exactly the opposite of the intended effect of all that formatting to begin with.

Transfer that time and effort you would spend on the resume formatting to the resume content (See "Resume Myths: Content" on our website)

Send it to us!

Have you reviewed and corrected your resume sins? Good. Submit it to us now through our website. Your info will easily get into our database, and be searchable for all the right elements. Don’t forget to include your phone number and e-mail address because, when your name comes up in our search, we want to call you.