Call me! Call me! On the line, Call me, call me any anytime. Okay, okay, I’m mixing my calls. When I went to Google for those lyrics and typed in Call Me, of course I didn’t get the 1980 chart topping version by Blondie. The search autofilled and I got that silly You Tube sensation Call Me Maybe (128 million views – and counting!). Anyway, the point is, I am still waiting for a call. From a recruiter. 
Backstory. In May I applied for a corporate PR executive position. As it turned out, an outside recruiter was doing the search and I wrote about that experience here.
Since I have not spent a day in my life as a corporate employee, I knew I was an outside candidate. I acknowledged that fact in my cover letter, and it was again acknowledged both by myself and the recruiter in the 90-minute phone interview.
Towards the end of the interview/conversation, this recruiter detailed the timeline for the process, and listed next steps. She told me specifically I would be hearing from her one way or the other.
Of course I probably wouldn’t be writing this post if she had called. And I am asking, as I have before on Staffing Talk, somewhat rhetorically, though seriously, what a candidate has a right to expect at varying levels in the interview process.
Let me throw something else in to the mix. I was at a networking event recently and met the Director of Recruiting for a growing staffing agency. She said that in some of her previous corporate recruiting positions she couldn’t respond to candidates who didn’t get the job.
She says now she absolutely responds to each and every candidate she interviews, whether they get an engagement or not. Further, she also makes and shares her notes and lets unsuccessful candidates know if there is something they can do to fix their resume and/or interview skills so that they might be more successful in the future.
She absolutely responds to each and every candidate she interviews, whether they get an engagement or not.
Why not, she says? Candidates appreciate it, it’s a touchpoint for the firm, and she has an opportunity to make a friend, or an evangelist, as opposed to an enemy.
At the time I met this staffing agency recruiter, I had kind of forgotten about my corporate interview and the unkept “promise” to get back to me.
But the meeting, and this firm’s best practice, reminded me.
Yes, of course, I realize the woman with whom I shared 90 minutes on the phone has lots of reqs and lots of candidates to juggle. Just be honest about that then, and say “you won’t be hearing back from us unless you are moving to the next round.”
I would suggest, however, that it’s a good idea, on a lot of levels, to make it part of her job to get back to at least everyone who made it to the phone interview stage. Isn’t recruiting all about relationships? A 90-second call is a great investment when it comes to building them.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
With the promise of hearing from her ‘one way or the other’, the very least she could do is shoot you an email.
No one relishes having to make the calls to tell candidates they didn’t get it, but as you mention this is a business of relationships. When she gets a req that you are perfect for, there’s a good chance you may not even take her call.
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If you insist on getting this song stuck in my head yet again, I must leave you with this parody
http://youtu.be/hX1YVzdnpEc
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So it’s not just me, is that what you’re saying Steve? Thanks for the affirmation – and the confirmation. I don’t want to beat this topic into the ground any further, but getting back to candidates does seem like a low level thing that could pay dividends. You never know how dots are going to get connected in the future, right?
As for the song, sorry, it was an unintended consequence. And I had seen Obama “singing” this song. That video was quite an editing exercise, huh? Can you imagine how much videotape they had to sift through to put that together?
Thanks for the comments.