The Internet Candidate Approach

Have you ever called a candidate off of a resume that you found on the Internet? What type of response did you get? If you are like many recruiters, you probably left several messages and never heard back from the candidate. Or you may have spoken with a candidate, and after speaking with them, found they were not interested in your position. Below are some ideas of how to get a better response from candidates who you find online.

Email First: Many recruiters are so use to calling candidates that they over look the easiest means of communication: email. By first emailing a candidate, you are not putting them in an awkward situation at work with a cold call about a new job. Email gives you the opportunity to introduce your company, the position, and yourself to the candidate. I have found that candidates are more likely to respond to you favorably if you email first before calling them. If a candidate has information about your opportunity before you contact them, they will be better informed and more at ease by being able to review this information before you call them!

Be Creative: When contacting a candidate by email, be creative. What I mean is don’t just cut and paste your job description and ask the candidate to call you. Make your email informative with information about your company (i.e. Fortune 500, rapidly growing, etc.) and the position that you are considering them for. Jazz up the job description, because so many descriptions sound the same. Dare to be different!
Be Personal: Don’t send out a mass e-mail that is not personalized. You can easily create a standard e-mail to contact qualified candidates, but it is very important that you individually address each candidate. Don’t send a blanket e-mail that says “dear candidate” or something to that effect. Personalize each e-mail with the candidate’s first name. This will show the candidate that you have taken the time to review their resume and contact them personally.

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Full Disclosure: Many recruiters make the mistake of not giving a candidate all the information that will get them excited about a position with their company. In your initial contact, include the following: title of the position, responsibilities, experience required, relocation considerations, compensation, stock options and benefits. If you only send a candidate a job description and the experience required, you are leaving out several pieces of important information that will spark a candidate’s interest.
Make An Appointment: In your e-mail, tell the candidate that you will call them on a specific day in order to discuss the position in detail with them. Give the candidate the opportunity to respond to your e-mail by asking them if the day you are going to call them is convenient for them. Also, ask them what number you should call them at. They may have a home number listed on their resume and you may be able to call them at work or on a mobile phone.
Give The Candidate An Out: Make sure that you let them know that if they are not interested in this opportunity to email you back. This gives the candidate the power to decide if they want to pursue the opportunity or not. This will save you the time of calling a candidate who is not interested in a position from the start. If they are not interested in your current opportunity, ask them for their permission to contact them again in the future about other opportunities. This demonstrates that you respect their time and at the same time you will be building a relationship for opportunities down the road with this candidate.
Don’t Give Up: If you don’t hear back from a candidate, email them again. Many times candidates will read your email but get busy and forget to get back to you. We have found that if you re-email a candidate they will more than likely get back to you.

As you can see, there are several steps in successfully contacting candidates that you find on the Internet. It may seem like a lot of work, but once you get your email together the rest will be easy! Give it a try and see how this approach improves the responses you receive from candidates sourced from the Internet!