Communication with candidates is key! ARM’s IT Sales Division's 10 step guide to candidate satisfaction (Step 2)

Candidates are rather important. What is an organization but a lot of people who were once candidates (or job seekers, if you prefer)? That’s why it upsets me if I speak to a candidate who tells me that they’ve had a negative experience with an agency in the past.

Recruitment firms should apply best practice and ought to agree that we share responsibility to uphold the reputation of recruitment – generally, and within our niche sectors. Aside from the obvious imperative of actually looking after candidates, a poor market reputation within a niche discipline will reduce referrals and result in unproductive time working with candidates to resolve needless frustrations.

ARM’s teams endeavour to deliver best practice as far as we possibly can and we welcome feedback if you think we have not done so. Over the following weeks, our IT Sales Recruitment team will provide a 10-step guide to how we aim to maintain the contact we have with our candidates throughout the recruitment process to ensure candidates receive the right “candidate experience”. We really do welcome feedback and want to hear from you if you think we’re getting it wrong – or right!

Step 1. Confirming receipt of CV submissions

If you have missed step one you can view it by checking out my first blog post.

Step 2. Managing Referrals

ARM’s IT Sales Recruitment Team values candidate referrals over and above any other technique of candidate attraction.

Most IT Sales Professionals are happy to provide referrals, content in the knowledge that they have added value to the career progression of friends, colleagues or associates. However, as testament to the fact that we take referrals very seriously, we also extend our gratitude to the referrer in the shape of a nice fee!

We offer a £250 referral fee for successful recommendations (for a candidate that we can help into employment / career change). The fee is payable upon ARM placing that candidate,  (once probation periods are successfully completed – small print applies of course, but there’s not that much of it). If you know a friend or a colleague who is looking for an improved recruiter service and or is looking to for new career options, £250 could be yours!

In terms of managing referrals, ARM will always try to acknowledge & communicate with candidates that have been referred and provide an explanation as to whether their backgrounds and skill sets are suitable for the opportunity in question.

Best practice should always be to thank the referrer even if it is just by a quick e-mail. If this has not been your experience, I would like to know about it, you can email me via my contact details or comment on the blog below.

Please check back next week for Step 3: CV Feedback.

Paul Fairclough

IT Sales Recruitment Senior Consultant

Add me on LinkedIn

paulf@arm.co.uk

ARM

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