I always find it interesting to have conversations with recruiters about candidates and their role in their business. Now of course, they are extremely important as without candidates you don’t have a business.

But one thing that is evident in my personal experiences is that what recruiters are saying and what they are doing are two different things.

One thing that you need to remember is that your candidate is also an influencer AND a potential referrer. I wrote recently about my experience with 3 different recruiters approaching me about roles. All 3 of these companies did not make a positive impression, mainly because of their lack of response after I had taken time out of my busy schedule to respond to their cold email approach.

What they failed to see that was, although I was not interested in their role, I could be a valued influencer, (since I know so many people in the industry) and could refer business to them. They were so concerned about the short term game that they missed the long term, more valuable, opportunity in front of them.

Remember that the candidates you are reaching out to all have their own networks, some them are influential and have a large reach within an industry.

When you treat candidates poorly and give them a bad experience with your brand, you are doing more damage to your current and future than you think. In a few clicks you either:

• Add to or remove someone from your immediate network
• Miss out on a joining their online community
• Become a valued person in their network
• Validate a candidate by comparing their connections and influence
• Add a highly valuable referrer
• Increase your amplification due to their influencer network
• Engage candidates based on their shared content
• When you are reaching out to candidates think of them in terms of potential collaborators and partners
• not just someone to fill a role quickly.

In the recruitment game your network is value and filling roles can be all about who you know. And with referrals being a major source of new business you need to make the most of every interaction. (online and offline)

So next time you are reaching out to a candidate, remember how important they are in your career and the lifetime value they bring to you in future commissions and introductions.