This week’s blog is about rejection. Rejection is of course a common theme in recruitment. We are being rejected, and rejecting every day. In fact, much more rejecting happens than recruiting, but it is only our innate positivity that focuses on the outcome, not the journey, which allows us to call it “Recruitment”. There is something I like about the moniker “Rejection Consultant” however. The need for Recruiters to be able to handle rejection is well known. Ask any seasoned recruiter at a barbeque what qualities a recruiter needs to possess, and “resilience” will always be in the top 3. This blog is not about recruiters handling rejection however.
It’s about candidates.
If all you care about in life is “likes” on LinkedIn, write a post about how important it is for recruiters to acknowledge every application. It seems that the LinkedIn algorithms and jobless LinkedIn addicts are hooked on this topic. If you want regular speaking gigs at recruitment conferences, become an internal recruiter who sends bouquets of flowers to every unsuccessful applicant. The world has a hard-on for candidate care it would seem. Changing lives by filling roles is an irrelevance versus receiving a templated rejection email right….
My personal view (and of course, me being me, a reasonably unpopular one) is that every marginally relevant applicant deserves a response – especially given that it’s a click of a button these days. I question if I need to politely reject a blacksmith from Gore applying for a Recruitment GM role, but f*ck it, I’ll probably click the button anyway. Just to keep you lot happy. There is however a type of candidate that we don’t speak about much. That is those who will not allow themselves to be rejected.
I’m currently recruiting a senior Internal Recruitment role. As many of you will know, there hasn’t been many of these on the market since Pogs. The response therefore is “solid”. Like all roles, the role has a few prerequisites, but there is some flexibility. In the most part, Recruiters who contact me say something like “Hey Sean. Saw that role. Do you think it’s worth a chat?“. In the most part, I say “Good to hear from you. This one probably isn’t quite right, as it requires xyz. Correct me if I’m wrong or if things have changed, but I don’t think you have xyz?“. 95% of the time, this polite, professional, friendly exchange ends here. I welcome these interactions all day long.
There are some candidates however who refuse to believe that they aren’t the right person for the job. No matter what reasoning is presented, these candidates will not accept “no” as an answer. Typically, they first try to convince you via email/text/LinkedIn. Then they try and close for a meeting with you to explain how wrong you are. Then, after increasingly salty interactions, they ask who the client is, as we clearly don’t know what we’re doing, and they will get the job directly.
There are a few things to think about here.
Firstly, and in sympathy with the candidate, they have probably dealt with some pretty rubbish recruitment Consultants over the years. Ones that really have misunderstood their experiences and background. I can understand this. Secondly, there’s probably a slight misunderstanding on what a good recruiter is employed to do. Wise companies partner with good recruiters to manage a recruitment process exclusively and in its entirety. The company has placed faith in this recruiters assessment ability. If it’s a “no” from the recruiter, it’s a “no” from the client”. And this raises arguably the most important point; the Recruiter really wishes you were the right person for the job! To have an appropriate candidate who is as keen as you is a recruiters dream. It is the definition of “easy money”. There is absolutely nothing personal in this rejection.
When a candidate asks who the client is, it opens up more questions than answers. If the role is commercially sensitive, then “no”, you can’t be told. If the role is being worked exclusively, and the client wants a shortlist and shortlist only, then “probably no”. They are paying a recruiter to fend off inappropriate applicants. If you’re speaking through a hanky and your name is “Bob Smith” then also “no” as you’re probably a competitor trying to pick up a lead. If the Recruiter tells you who the client is, they either think you have no chance of securing the role, or…even worse…you might secure the role, but the recruiter has no faith that you’ll last 3 months.
If you are a candidate who keeps being “unfairly” rejected, here’s my advice. Firstly, get someone to look at your CV, and perhaps get a bit of coaching around how you position yourself. Secondly, if you are correct in your belief that the recruiter is awful, they probably aren’t working the role exclusively. Jump on SEEK, find who else is recruiting the role, and try your luck there.
Onwards and upwards into 2025!
^SW
