Candidates are Recruitment Gold - Look after them!

I always loved updating candidates when I was a recruiter. If you trade a space long enough you build great relationships and see so much value coming in your direction. However, it wasn't until I set up a business from scratch that I truly learnt just how key they are to everything.

So much business development activity within recruitment is facing the clients - they pay the bills after all - but a great candidate strategy, backed with great service can build you the ultimate superpower!

There are so many benefits to derive from strong candidate relationships:

Candidates Are Revenue Drivers

As an old boss once said to me, if you haven't got the candidates, you've got nothing to sell. I think this applies really strongly in the contingent perm and temp/contract spaces.

• Permanent placements: There's nothing better than finalising a placement. Striding over to the white board and writing it up. Fees come in all shapes and sizes (my smallest £1,250, my largest £61,500) but they're all a thing of beauty. Candidate gets job, client gets vacancy filled, you get commission.
• Temporary and contract placements: A great freelance candidate can be an enormous revenue driver. Whilst on day one the fee is smaller than perm, the recurring revenue soon racks up. Even a humble accounts assistant, if they remain in place for a year, could yield north of £10,000 in fee income.

The value of candidates extends far beyond filling roles; they’re the engine of recruitment profitability.

Candidates Create Future Opportunities

Recruitment is fundamentally about building relationships. A candidate today might become a client tomorrow.

According to LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends report, 80% of candidates would return to a recruiter who provided a great experience, and 72% of candidates would recommend their recruiter to colleagues. Treating candidates as long-term assets builds trust, loyalty, and repeat business.

It's a joy to watch great people advance in their careers and if you've been there for them and helped them where you can guess what happens then? They become a client, and I assure you a candidate converted to a client tends to be a great working relationship.

Market Intelligence and Brand Power

At the Page Group, as everyone was flagging towards the end of the day, we would often all get on the phones for an hour and update candidates. They tended to be great conversations where you exchanged information, all building to your indepth knowledge of your specialism.

You can learn so much from candidates:

• Market insight - new players, who is struggling, what are the challenges and areas for growth for the coming years?
• Trends in salary expectations
• Working pattern changes, how they are delivered and received.
• Employer reputation insights.
• An imminent leaver.
• A planned expansion.

The list is endless but this information will help you advise clients more effectively and position yourself as a true market experts as well as spot commercial opportunities faster.

On the flip side, a poor candidate experience can harm your agency’s reputation. Research from CareerBuilder found that 69% of candidates who had a negative experience wouldn’t engage with a company’s job postings again.

The Cost of Ignoring Candidate Value

On the flip side poor candidate service can hurt you, and rightly so:

• Candidates dropping out of recruitment processes half way through.
• Lower response rates when you reach out with opportunities.
• Client's not briefing you as they or one of their team had a bad experience. I kid you not, in 2012 I was being briefed on a Head of Production role (£90k salary) for a really cool emerging brand. All was proceeding well with the MD, at that point I was so well placed to fill it - their shortlist would have been amazing...enter the FD. When he'd come to the UK in 1994 the first agency he met had been Michael Page and because some consultant met him and tore his experience apart, 16 years later he was clear, do not use Michael page!
• Less control of offer management.
• Speed to shortlist grown.

I could go on, but fundamentally it will lose you money and opportunity in the bucket load.

How to Maximize Candidate Value

1. Enhance the Candidate Experience: A positive experience—from clear communication to efficient processes—builds loyalty. Ask for trust, give trust. According to Talent Board, 87% of candidates share positive experiences with their networks.
2. Invest in Technology: Tools like Bullhorn, JobAdder, and AI-driven CRMs streamline candidate engagement, ensuring no one falls through the cracks.
3. Engage Passive Candidates: LinkedIn reports that 70% of the global workforce is passive talent—not actively looking but open to opportunities. Consistent engagement ensures they think of you when they’re ready to move.
4. Measure and Optimize: Use KPIs like candidate engagement rates, time-to-placement, and referral rates to assess and improve your approach.

Conclusion

In recruitment, clients pay the invoices, but candidates are the currency that drives success. By treating candidates as valuable assets, recruiters not only boost their financial performance but also build a resilient and reputable business.

What are your strategies for maximizing candidate value? Let’s start a conversation in the comments!

#Recruitment #CandidateExperience #TalentManagement