Welcome to 2022!

Well, that is just about Working Week 1 done for 2022.

Just enough time for some quick observations before the weekend.

Candidate conversations this week have been around what their expectations are for this year – when to change jobs, when to enter into a recruitment process and which firms look the most interesting for a variety of personal and career reasons.

These conversations should provide very insightful feedback to our clients when embarking on a recruitment or hiring journey.

We can sum up this week into 4 themes:

Responsiveness – once a candidate has expressed an interest in a role or an organisation, the companies that acknowledge and respond to that application quickly will go a long way to securing that candidate at the end of an interview process. It shows intent; it demonstrates a strong desire to act and frankly, it will differentiate you from many of your competitors.

Respect – if someone has taken the time to apply for a role at your organisation or through a job you have posted as a recruiter, treat that application (and the human applicant behind it) with respect. Sure, we get it – a lot of applications for roles will not be right – many candidates are still not reading the job advert fully and many have set up “auto-apply” filters when certain key words appear, regardless of the underlying skills needed for the job. It is very easy to acknowledge and decline the application. Similarly, job seekers, you can also do yourself a big favour and show respect for the person hiring and apply for jobs only after honestly assessing whether you meet the requirements. Respect works both ways.

Relationships – we always like to question what candidates want from us based on where the market is in any given year. For some, it’s purely transactional but for most, they genuinely want someone to partner closely with in their search for a more fulfilling career. A relationship built on trust, knowledge and support are imperative to working together long term. Most job seekers do want to have trusted relationships and for both sides, working in an honest and transparent way enhances the dynamic to a point where many of our candidates become clients later down the line.

Reputation – it is often said that your reputation is what others say about you when you are not in the room. We think the first aforementioned themes go a long way towards the development of a reputation – as an employer, as a job seeker and as a recruitment consultant. Adopt a “no surprises” approach; talk candidly; be transparent; communicate clearly and you will more likely enhance your reputation rather than see it erode away.

So, in 2022, be responsive, be respectful and look to form long term relationships based on trust and you will undoubtedly find that you are building the reputation that puts you in a unique position to really make a difference.