Posted October 16 2020
By Gemma O'Brien
We’re (still) in the middle of a pandemic – one that’s likely to cause hundreds of thousands of job losses in the not-to-distant future. The pendulum will fully swing from a market that is job rich (meaning candidates had their pick of who to work for) to one that is saturated with candidates (and not enough jobs).
Yet, in spite of this, I am still facing the reality of many candidates “ghosting” me. They’ll register with me, virtually, and we’ll have a chat. I’ll discuss with them whatever opportunities I am currently working on. They agree to an interview. And then … Nothing.
Yes, they’ve disappeared. In a jobs short market.
Why?
Put simply, I think it’s the lack of face-to-face communication. When I bring a candidate into register in the HRC office (oh, how that feels like a lifetime ago), I can get a better “read” of them than I can over Zoom or Skype. Their body language will tell me if they are really interested in the role and want to be put forward for interview or if this is just one in a string of jobs they have applied for.
More than that, if a candidate has to get relatively dressed up and get the train into town to come and register with me, they’ve already made a small commitment to the role. It takes much more of an effort to do that than to sit at home in front of the laptop to register virtually.
And it’s not that candidates aren’t taking online interviews seriously. The majority of my candidates are preparing every bit as thoroughly as they would for an in-person interview and dressing as they would for a day in the office.
But it somehow feels easier to “forget” to log on at a specific time than it is to not physically turn up to an office.
Of course, I understand that – in the current climate – there are many reasons why candidates may be unable to attend an interview. However, common courtesy would suggest that they could at least send an email to let me know – a complete no show makes both the candidate and me look ill-prepared and bad-mannered to the client.
You want to make a good impression from the offset and really sell yourself as the ideal candidate for the role in question. Not showing up (without a good reason and plenty of notice) isn’t the best way to do this.
Recruitment agencies aren’t purely transactional units – we love chatting to people and getting to know them. It’s the only way we can really do our jobs well. We have to be in contact with our candidates and our clients to ensure the best possible match.
I have a number of Contact Centre roles currently available. Not a part of the HRC network? I’d love to have you register as a candidate to establish a great working relationship in order to help you on your career path.
Click here to see my details and get in touch.