I was having a conversation with one of my clients this week. We were in the middle of discussing a potential hire and he said to me “I know this might be stepping on your toes, but I would really like to chat to the candidate direct and discuss a few points”. Well, of course I said, no problem at all.
He was actually quite taken aback. It was the first time that he had spoken to a recruiter who had agreed to allow him to have a conversation direct with the candidate.
I know that as recruiters we are trained to “control” the process and to manage negotiations between client and candidate. However, I am very much of the opinion that the relationship needs to begin between the hiring manager and the employee. What better way than to allow that to happen right from the start.
I suppose there is a fear from the recruiter that the client will go behind their back, or even offer a salary and “tweak” it for the purposes of fee calculation (yes this has happened to me before). My answer to that is don’t work with a client that you don’t feel you can trust 100%.
If we are to improve the reputation of recruiters in the marketplace, there needs to be more transparency and by allowing clients to speak to candidates, it actually builds trust in the recruiter.
Do you agree? Do you allow this communication to take place or are you still very much looking to control the process from start to finish?
