My success in my recruiting profession can be attributed to the valued relationships I’ve established.  As a recruiter filling jobs, I formed an immediate connection of trust and commitment with hiring managers and candidates alike.  As my career advanced, building strong relationships became even more important.  I know for a fact that there would have been no way I would have been able to introduce SEO, SEM, Social Media and even metrics to Arrow Electronics for recruitment if it were not the relationships I established with Marketing, IT and Finance.  I was wanting to implement things that the organization hadn’t even thought of yet.  I knew I needed to establish trust with my peers and beyond.  While socializing ideas with these key partners, we were able to form a bond of trust which gave them comfort in my ideas and how they would impact the business.

These individuals became my biggest supporters.

According to the American Management Association, 90% of career success hinges on your ability to communicate well, foster mutually beneficial relationships at work, and earn the respect and loyalty of bosses, coworkers, clients, and customers. Business is built on relationships and without them, they would crumble. Consider this: studies have shown that leaders who focus on building solid relationships are more effective and that employees who have developed meaningful relationships work more productively and in harmony with one another.

We recognize the importance of relationships within the workplace. But what about the relationships externally? Not just with your everyday consumer, but with prospective talent.  Investing in your relationships with prospective talent will:

Build trust between both the employer and job seeker

• In order to build trust, we need to understand one’s credibility, integrity and reliability.  Does the interview process give you enough interaction to do this?  “Trust has to be earned and should come only after the passage of time” – Arthur Ashe.  Does the interview give you enough time?

Give talent a sense of belonging with your organization

• Including the job seeker in the conversation allows the audience to feel connected.  This connection allows them to subconsciously begin to process “friend” vs. “foe”, thus decreasing any apprehension about considering a new company or opportunity.

Provide both the job-seeker and employer insights on the way each behave, allowing both to make more knowledgeable decisions.

• The more that is shared, the more which is learned.  Potential candidates might decide over time that they aren’t a fit for the organization – and this is fine. Remember, you don’t want everyone, you want the right ones.
• As job seekers experience your organization more before they join, they become familiar with how you operate and communicate. This escalates the point of contribution to your organization after they join.

Allows the organization to keep a pulse on the talent audience and be prepared as business needs change

• Applicants are based on today’s job requisitions, which are today’s business requirement.  Allowing the discussion to happen before a business requirement, allows the relationship to evolve along with business needs and doesn’t end when yesterday’s job opening is filled.

While there are forums like career fairs and open houses that can be executed to cultivate these relationships, typically, the conversations end at that recruiting cycle. Delivering continuous events like these aren’t very efficient. It takes a lot of resources to execute these well, and yet, the conversations ultimately end.

‍