There are countless articles about how an applicant must respect a certain set of rules before an employment interview, during the interview, and after its conclusion. Usually these rules concern one’s behavior, both psychological and technical. The first refers to actions that pertain to communication, mimicry, gestures, tonality, verbal fluency, intelligibility (we’re basically referring to interrelations), while the second type of behavior (technical) refers to the fact that (and whether) the applicant is informed about the company with which he or she has the interview, what information he or she presents the interviewer, the objective of the interview, how the applicant presents him- or herself, and, of course, in cases in which there are technical tests (logic-mathematics, for example), how he or she thinks, reasons, and solves it.

Therefore, what obligations do the recruiters have? Do they respect them? We can say that just as a certain number (quite a few) applicants have orthographic and grammatical errors in their CVs, come late to interviews or come much too early or forget to announce that they’re not coming at all, similarly do recruiters make specific mistakes? We shall see in what follows.

Tennessee Williams said: If the writing is honest it cannot be separated from the man who wrote it.

It’s the same for an employment interview that addresses both applicants (recruiters and applicants)—If the interview is sincere it cannot be separated from its participants, namely the interviewer and the interviewee.

Taking the principle from the above paragraph as healthy behavior and thinking of moral and, at the same time, professional responsibility of the recruiter, he or she must comply with the following obligations:

Always offer the applicant feedback regarding the result of the interview in which he participated. Also, for the respective applicants to know themselves better from a professional point of view, the feedback should be presented critically. In the following paragraph are some examples.

Example (1): You weren’t selected because your abilities in statistical analysis are at a beginner’s level (according to the test that we gave you) and, as you saw in the employment advertisement, we’re looking for someone with medium-level skills. Also, in the English language test you scored a 7, and the minimum accepted score is 8. If any other positions open up in the company, you will be contacted.

Example (2):  Following your participation in an employment interview for the position of Construction Engineer/Project Manager we would like to inform you that the decision is negative. The reason for this decision is, primarily, is your moderate experience in maintenance. We are looking for someone with advanced experience. However, the job for which you applied requires flexibility and organizational skill in its good management, and for this you were identified as a good fit. With your permission, we’ll retain your name in our database to be updated with new opportunities that may arise in the future. I look forward to your response.

Example (3): As I promised you, I have come with the results of the interview for the position of Sales Coordinator. You weren’t accepted for this position because you declined to participate in the role-play I proposed saying that such a thing is necessary only for interviewing juniors. As such, your flexibility appears to be very low. In addition, your technical knowledge with X brand cars needs to be improved—there are several key facts that you need to know. For example, using car Y is….

Please inform me if you would like us to keep your CV in our database.

What do you think of these examples? It must be mentioned that more time is lost than gained if a recruiter doesn’t give feedback seeing that the person who applied for a certain position may continue to try to contact the company by phone, the receptionist redirects the message, the recruiter isn’t available, the applicant tries again…sends an email, it’s read or ignored, he sends another email, etc.

Things done well help you to gain time, not lose it.

The recruiters shouldn’t be in as big of a hurry as many of them appear to be. Haste makes waste, haste wastes recruitment. As a direct address to recruiters: imagine that you are perceived as are many university professors or politicians who are not transparent—they offer only statements and not arguments, they promote theory and forget practice. You are the new generation, and the future “sounds good,” but only if the principles of the guild sound good. Already some guilds appear compromised, why should the Human Resources industry be among them?

Some recruiters don’t give complete feedback because they don’t want to hurt the applicant’s feelings or because they don’t have time. The fact is that through this sort of motivation we’re actually hurting applicants professionally—they need to improve themselves, not to avoid disappointment. Disappointment often is beneficial in any situation because, after a trial, a “fight”, the person in question receives an evaluation and with it goes further in life trying to be a better, more efficient, more professional person.

Another obligation a recruiter has is to gather all of the information (CVs, applicant responses, interview results). Surprising or not, along with the evolution of technology (electronic databases, for example) bureaucracy also expanded. As such, some recruitment agencies can lose data and information in their disorganization. There are a few simple steps to avoid this:

1. Create a folder (in Outlook, for example) and some subfolders that contain recruitment fields, applicants, and applicant responses plus CVs and interview results.
2. Archive CVs—by field

By doing so, if an applicant wants information about the interview in which he or she participated or the recruiter has to present the information to his or her boss, the information can be presented in an organized manner.

Recruiters also need to respect the following: Updating information about applicants as well as about recruitment projects. This is why databases exist—to be used. Periodically (let’s say every six month to a year) or when certain applicants are re-contacted for new jobs, the information needs to be updated about projects in which the applicant participated, where he or she lives, job he or she currently has, or studies he or she has begun or completed. Through such a method, the applicant is respected and the recruiter gains time—he or she knows that in the next 3-4-6 months he or she will contact certain people and avoid others, seeing as how he or she has all of the information gathered in one place.

Among the obligations of the recruiter also number these: To have his or her phone set on silent or to be turned off during an interview or to announce to the applicant before beginning that he or she is awaiting an important call and so has his or her phone on; To tell the interviewee that he or she has the right to ask questions; To offer him or her a cup of water (a simple question in this manner doesn’t hurt); To guide him or her to the exit after the interview. Also, the recruiter should provide information on when the applicant should await feedback or on the following steps that need mentioned.

Good luck in your recruitment projects!