What Do Recruiters Actually Do? Part 1: Deliver Rejection

What do recruiters actually do? It's a common question. I've started this series to give you an insight into the recruitment industry, the positives, negatives and neutrals. All recruiters know it's an imperfect industry, but we do want to improve. All constructive feedback is gladly received.

The Number One Thing Recruiters Do

There is nothing recruiters do more than reject people. For every placement made, you have to reject candidates one way or another and depending on the market, this could be hundreds of people. This thought in isolation can lead you to think recruitment is a thoroughly miserable profession where you crush and shatter people's dreams daily. 

But for every action, there's a reaction. For the many disappointments – there is the exultation of the person who secured the role gets to start an exciting new chapter in their career. 

Rejecting Candidates

Considering how often recruiters reject people, I think as a whole, we have room for improvement. People wait with baited breath for the call to let them know if they've got an interview, made the shortlist or got an offer. A day will pass, then another day, and then another. The writing is generally on the wall if a week has passed (but not always). We are quick as lightning to make the friendly calls, but usually not as eager to make the tough calls – informing people of bad news.

The one obvious thing is people like to be informed of the decision as quickly as possible. It's not a fun conversation to have. It's a variation of, "Hi Owen, I have terrible news for you. The company do not wish to progress with your application. The reason they do not want to proceed with your application is X." It's important we cut to the chase as quickly as possible. The person on the other end is waiting for potentially life-changing information about their career - they want to know the outcome immediately. 

Candidate Reactions

The immediate reactions are understandable, especially if the person is particularly emotionally invested in a role or has been looking for a new job for a long time. 

They usually fit into 4 categories:

• The Surprise rejection – the candidate thought they were perfect in every way for the job and just did not expect for one moment that someone else would be more suitable. 
• The Expected rejection – the opposite of the surprise rejection. They didn't expect to get the job and thought they did well to get this far in the process.
• The Tipping point rejection – that one rejection too many, which results in a display of despair and necessitates a change of strategy.
• The Angry rejection - it's quite rare, but occasionally happens. This is an offshoot of the surprise/tipping point rejection and results in the candidate informing you of your failures as a human being, or sometimes you get really unlucky, they'll call the company they've been rejected from and tell the hiring manager how they're terrible human beings. 

Final Thoughts

The most important thing we can do in these calls is give candidates feedback about why they were rejected. Feedback is absolutely critical; otherwise, the person is likely to continue committing the same errors time and time again. Some people take longer than others to take feedback on board, but we all get there eventually. 

Is rejection an art? Absolutely not. But it is a skill. Done correctly, it treats people with dignity and respect. Each time we deliver a rejection communication, we need to think about whether the message is being delivered in a respectful, accurate and appropriate way.