Hire Education: Recruiting Rooted in Transparency and Honesty

Despite recession fears, the US job market is still advantageous for candidates. According to NBC, the great resignation is still in full swing, leaving many job openings. Recruiters are the liaison between clients and candidates. They help candidates navigate their needs and negotiate prospects.

Ashli Zimmerman, National Account Manager and Senior Recruiter at Catapult Solutions, said “Transparency is one of the most important factors when it comes to being a recruiter.” She understands that different candidates have different priorities, and getting to the motivating factors for each candidate will help her put them forward for the best-fitting roles.

Transparency is fundamental to success in recruiting and woven throughout the process. The recruiter and candidate have to be equally transparent. “It’s so important to be upfront about compensation or any other caveats about the role,” said Drew Cumbey, a Catapult Solution’s IT Recruiter. Recruiters need to be upfront about the basics and deal-breakers of the role, like compensation, benefits, and on-site or remote expectations. To help understand a new candidate’s desires, Cumbey likes to run through a thought experiment with them. He poses the question that if two roles tick the boxes on the candidate’s basic desires, what would motivate the candidate to take one position over another.

This dialogue prevents a communication breakdown or mismatched roles. “It gets to the root of what they [the candidates] are looking for. What gets them out of bed every day,” said Cumbey.

Zimmerman poses that this transparency helps the recruiter advocate for a candidate with the client. “Being able to bring that [the candidate’s motivators] to your client and say, ‘if this candidate is who you want to hire, these are their expectations,’” said Zimmerman. The better recruiters know their candidates, the better they can position them to interested clients.

The honesty and transparency Catapult Solutions uses for every search help them create symbiotic relationships for future employees and employers. Aiming for symbiotic relationships “saves people time and puts people where they need to be,” said Cumbey. Symbiosis is key to long-tenured job placements. Compared to, “parasitic relationships, how long is that going to last?” asked Cumbey.