Building Rapport: Why We Believe in Long-term Relationships
“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.”
One thing I’ve learned throughout my career is relationships and recruitment go hand in hand. We at Sytac like to believe that nothing stays the same in the recruiting world — candidates have the opportunity to continuously learn and become better at what they do, and to find the “right fit” simply means guiding them towards the right path.
- Keeping in touch for future opportunities
“Let’s keep in touch.” We have all heard of this saying… but what does it really mean? This sentence has been used so frequently and ineffectively, that candidates have become to take it as a soft rejection, because more often than not, we never hear back.
It’s most common to refer to a candidate as a current job seeker. Most people forget that this term should also represent past and future candidates. So how do we actually keep in touch?
One way is to show them where improvement is needed. Investigate and be invested. You and the candidate have both spent the time to have a productive conversation and felt the chemistry running. If it were up to you, this candidate would’ve been a fit, but the role requires something more. This is the time where you reflect back on your notes; which social, technical, or communication skill do they need to pick up?
They’ve shown that they’re interested in your company and you know they have great potential — the one thing to do here is to show them what they can do to turn potential to possibility. If they need to build on their social skills, why not schedule a weekly chat with them and see how they’re improving? Advise them on taking English classes; but explain to them why a certain level of English is necessary. The need for improvement needs to be backed up by concrete requirements in order for candidates to justify why the extra effort will be worthwhile. Think of it this way: you’re investing in your candidate by manifesting opportunities and in return, your candidate will invest in themselves with the right knowledge and information.
2. Building a platform of trust
Candidate experience is not an HR trend, it is a platform of trust. Through social interaction, you build trust and it’s the main ingredient for a sustainable relationship. The first step is to focus on the volume of communication — it all starts with confirming that their application has been received and reviewed. It’s important to stretch on the hiring timeline: we implement an 8-day policy when it comes to the recruitment process. Candidates will then keep this on the back of their minds and in a way, this is how we prove ourselves to stick to that timeline. By validating our speed and effectiveness in communication, candidates will feel respected (even passive ones) and therefore are much more responsive in return.
The next step is to ask candidates for feedback. Let’s say you’ve earned points by maintaining constant communication and keeping them engaged in every step of the way (kudos to you!), but it’s always nice to ask. This is another way to display that we care about candidate experience and that we trust them to help us make it better. Openness to feedback will leave the right impression on candidates, thus enhancing their experience. Taking all this into account, they may even spread a good word about the company, even if you don’t end up working together — competent candidate referrals often come from word-of-mouth. And who knows… you might be left with a nice surprise on Glassdoor with a positive review!
Long-term Relationships During This Pandemic
We are keeping each other sane through social interaction during these quarantine periods. One key to stress upon is to be honest and transparent. Lots of people are affected by this pandemic and that only makes them vulnerable, which means that we have to show understanding by performing ways to weather this through.
A core value that we share is “stronger together”, and during this period, we feel that it speaks even louder. Weekly catch-ups can be seen as a way to keep your company on top of their minds. In a way, this serves as a reminder to candidates that we are interested in working with them once the situation calms down. It is alright to tell candidates which start date we’re looking into in order for them to know what to expect, but more importantly, explain why a conversation so early on is necessary. As soon as new projects emerge, they can already be in the process and be made a priority; using their and our time effectively.
We make sure candidates are aware that we have their best interests in mind, keep them grounded, and feel secure. Once we’ve succeeded in convincing candidates they’re standing on steady ground, good things will always come around.
Hi! I am Kezia and I’m part of the talent acquisition team at Sytac: we are an engineering house based in the Netherlands, where we employ around 100 developers across the country at A-grade companies like Backbase, KLM, ING, ABN-AMRO, TMG, and Ahold Delhaize. Subscribe to read our stories here, or our tech articles on DevJam. Make sure to browse our Careers page if you see yourself as part of our lively bunch, we’re always on the search for brilliant developers like you!
