Addressing candidates is easy - or is it?

"I'm calling from XYZ recruitment agency, can you speak freely?" This is a phrase that candidates in certain industries know all too well. In some cases, they are even contacted 2-3x per day. Many use direct instructions and candidates are addressed according to a predefined text. The texts usually sound impersonal and read aloud.

The human being at the center of the direct approach

Candidates you contact, even if for a well-intentioned reason, are not at all prepared for the interview, unlike the caller with the detailed guides in hand. The candidates may have just had a meeting in which the pressure on them was increased, perhaps a critical conversation with their supervisor, or they may have lost an important customer. Or maybe they just don't feel fit at the moment and are struggling with the consequences of an infection or have family problems. Candidates are not just numbers on our sometimes long address lists, but first and foremost people. People with emotions, moods and everyday concerns. Our call is not always appropriate and sometimes it comes at the most inopportune time, when colleagues are also nearby and could therefore overhear something.

Empathy in focus

Taking these aspects into account, addressing candidates is therefore much more than just a simple, guideline-based interest survey. Every conversation is as individual as people are. Accordingly, the approach requires not only a nice telephone voice and the courage to contact complete strangers, but also and above all Empathy. This means having the gift of being able to get a picture of the current emotional world of the person you are talking to within the first few seconds of the phone call. Can you hear voices in the background? Does the candidate answer briefly and concisely or in a friendly and open manner? What is the first reaction after a brief introduction? This appropriate way of dealing with people is very difficult to learn. It is an inner attitude, but also a talent. When developing the STIER formula, we therefore deliberately chose the term "Empathic First Call", because the term "first" or "direct approach" does not do justice to the emotional complexity of this research area.

You always meet twice in life - even with direct approaches

At first glance, a candidate is just one of many names on our list. If he is not interested, which is more the rule than the exception, it does not get us anywhere at first. One might think that it has no further meaning for us. But is that really the case? There are not a few who, especially when the candidates do not express interest, abruptly break off the conversation and now have hardly any words left compared to the overly friendly and long introduction. Experience teaches that it is important to treat every candidate with respect, even when they are not interested, and to give the feeling that this call and the brief getting to know each other was valuable, regardless of the outcome. Addressing candidates

Because even though our industry is measured primarily by staffing, we also have a duty to the candidates. Their interests and wishes should be just as important to us. Even though candidates are contacted very frequently today, they remember many things very well and an unsuitable or uninterested candidate can be the longed-for needle in a haystack in the very next project.