Candidate Issues

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Hi Dem,

Is it unprofessional/ legal to tell a candidate that they will not be receiving an offer based on the reference check?

Our candidate went on 3 interviews and the client then asked her for references. She gave our client three names. The client said she checked them and wanted to make an offer. I told the candidate that they wanted to make an offer. The client and I start discussing start date, etc. In the meantime, the candidate sent over a fourth reference to the client separately. This reference apparently did not give the candidate a raving review. Therefore, they will not be moving forward with an offer based on a bad reference. What do we do now?
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Hi Dem,

My client is conducting final interviews next Friday. He has invited two of my candidates to dinner the night before at his house. My candidates are not the only ones who were invited. Some other candidates will be there as well as some people from his company.

Because we work with very senior candidates, the “dinner” scenario is not unusual, but usually it’s a one- on-one. I’ve never heard of this “group” approach and I am concerned my candidates could be embarrassed or sabotaged by their competition. What do you think?

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Hey Dem,

I have been recruiting for just over 6 years now and recently had 2 placements that had the same situation that I have never had happen before. Each candidate had a criminal charge in their background. For one of them it was 13 years ago and for the other it was just over 7 years ago. They both ended up coming through okay and accepted their offers but what is your suggestion on bringing this to the clients' attention? I have seen most companies go back 5-7 years, so with both of these cases I told the client that something may come up but didn't give any further details. It turns out that neither came up and it wasn't an issue. Your feedback is appreciated.
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Hi Dem,

I recently went from I.T. Recruiting to Finance. My new agency signed me up for Demitrisays, and I am loving it. My first training in the industry came from watching old Tony Byrne tapes. I have been a fan of training ever since. I think your stuff is amazing, and even when I don't agree, I do get food for thought.

So, my question is this: When I did I.T., I had a lot more client/candidate control. Now, my clients take over the process following interest in a CV. It seems to be the norm for this industry. I have stressed how important it is (to the candidates) to keep me in the loop, and they never do. I tell them: “I have placed tons of people in my career, let me share the benefit of my experience. You may go on 5 interviews a year, I set up 10 interviews a week! Let me help you get the opportunity”. It doesn’t seem to work anymore and I think it’s a trust issue. How can I make my candidates see how important communication is with me and that they can trust me? I can't be closing if I am not involved. Thanks!
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Hi Dem,

It seems the more our business moves its communication practices towards email the harder it is to present a job to a candidate. I approach a lot of candidates cold through email (and phone too of course) but more and more the response by email is, "Send me the job description and I'll let you know if I'm interested". Job descriptions are boring lists of requirements. How do I sell the opportunity through email? Should I even try or just keep pushing to get the candidate on a phone call?
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Hi Dem,

I have a time management issue. I am working with some candidates who are unemployed so they have nothing better to do than call me at least once a day to ask me “have you found anything for me yet?” It’s really taking up a lot of my time and I need to know how you would manage this?
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Hi Dem,

While interviewing a candidate for a position he informed me he had interviewed at my client about 2 years ago; both were interested, but couldn't agree on the salary. He is still very interested in this opportunity. How should I present him to my client? Should I inform my client of their past encounter with him, if so how do I ensure I will get my fee?
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Hey Dem,

I read everything you send out because although I am a senior recruiter, I still find myself learning. I have a question pertaining to candidate control and I am looking for a "Demitri-ism". I am having a large number of candidates simply disappear and it is happening at each phase of the process. Part of it I can blame on not establishing the ground rules up front. I am certain the candidate is declining the opportunity, or they would be calling me. I need to control my candidates better to provide appropriate feedback to my clients. What soon-to-be-famous Demitri-ism would you use to reduce the number of disappearing candidates?
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Hi Dem,

I have been recruiting for just over 6 years now and recently had 2 placements that had the same situation that I have never had happen before. Each candidate had a criminal charge in their background. For one of them it was 13 years ago and for the other it was just over 7 years ago. They both ended up coming through okay and accepted their offers but what is your suggestion on bringing this to the clients' attention? I have seen most companies go back 5-7 years, so with both of these cases I told the client that something may come up but didn't give any further details. It turns out that neither came up and it wasn't an issue. Your feedback is appreciated.
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Hi Dem,

I have a candidate who has been working at the same company for 21 years, I just got him a 20% increase with a client who wants to hire him.

What can I do to handle the fear of change issue?
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Hey D,

We are very specialised and there are only about 5 major companies and maybe another 15 or so smaller companies in our niche. Most of the candidates we work with want to stay in the industry and they know most of the companies. They don't always know who they would be interested in working for but they usually know who they don't want to work for. As such, we are often asked to disclose the name of the client we are representing for a position before we can fully secure their interest.

It has only happened once over the years where a candidate went around us and went directly to a client we were working with, but I have to wonder how many other times that has happened and how many times a candidate learned of a vacancy from someone we talked to and then decided to go directly to the client. Any suggestion on how we might handle this going forward?
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Hi Dem,

How do you handle/ manage Candidates at this time of the year where they might want to stay at their current companies for bonuses they might qualify for? Sometimes it can be a significant amount of money. Will wait to hear from you.
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Hi Dem,

I am fairly new to candidate marketing. I have been having my best candidates make lists of the companies that they are interested in working for. A troublesome situation keeps presenting itself. Twice already, the companies have responded back to me enthusiastically when they hear what a great candidate I have. But when it comes down to the fee agreement, they put me off; they don't want to commit to working with me or paying a fee. Then I feel guilty, because I think, if my candidate had submitted his CV on his own he may have had a chance at this opportunity? What can I do about this? What do I tell my candidate?

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Hey Dem,

I don't see this in your prepping information on the website. I have a candidate that wants to take company questions with her on the first interview. She did her homework on the internet and read an article suggesting you do it to make yourself look "smarter and prepared". My feeling is that a candidate at the R700K level should be able to remember a few questions in the interview without having to refer to her notes. Your thoughts?
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Hi Dem,

Can you settle an argument in my office? I have 3 senior recruiters (been in the industry for 15-20 years) who work jobs in the R600 - R1 000 000 salary range. Here's the debate: I was trained never to disclose your client’s company name until the person on the other end of the phone becomes a candidate. 2 of my 3 recruiters think that by disclosing the client name it will be easier to "hook" the candidate. What does Dem say?
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Hi Dem,

I don't understand. In the last week:

1. I have had one candidate who was supposed to get an offer, pretend to be sick and have her "sister" take a call on her behalf.

2. A candidate who had an interview scheduled for 9am never showed up, and when I called, she was in the bathroom?

3. Today I am waiting for two candidates to call back for a 1st interview and another candidate for a 2nd interview.

4. And as I was writing this (Monday evening), I just received a message that a candidate who went to an interview Friday, is now going back to university to complete her studies. I don't understand. This has NEVER happened to me in my life...is there something going on in the market? What is going on?


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Hey Dem,

I am fairly new to candidate marketing. I have been having my candidates make lists of the companies that they are interested in working for. Twice already, the companies have responded back to me positively when they see what a great candidate I have. But when it comes down to signing the fee agreement, they don't want to commit to paying me a fee. Then I feel guilty, because I think, if my candidate had submitted his CV on his own he may have had a chance at this opportunity? What can I do about this? What do I tell my candidate?
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Hi Dem,

I have a candidate with 13 years at one company. He is now at 5 weeks annual leave. My client has a policy of offering 3 weeks a year to all new employees. Is annual leave a benefit that has to be the same for all? How have other companies resolved this issue other than 'my way or the highway'? I have had clients in the past that have solved the problem 'unofficially'. But the candidate wants something more concrete in the offer letter. Help.
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Hi Dem,

What do you think of conducting telephonic interviews? I can’t seem to get in the right number of face-to-face Interviews in during the day. I really think I could get a lot more candidates out much sooner if I conducted 2 or 3 phone interviews every day. Would you recommend this over standard face-to-face Interviews?
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Hi Dem,

My question is three- fold. I interviewed a really great candidate today! CV was perfect, experience excellent, a ‘walking placement’, but she arrived half an hour late for the interview, blamed the traffic, but never called to let me know. I’m worried she might do the same to my clients. Firstly, how do I tell her that my reputation is at stake with the clients I send her to? Secondly, how do I ensure that candidates arrive on time for Interviews and in this day and age isn’t the ‘traffic’ excuse legitimate? And thirdly, would you ever work with a candidate who did that
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Hi Dem,

I found out that one of my seemingly exceptional candidates lied on her CV. She told me she won Sales Rep of the Year at her company and I found out she was 3rd Runner Up. Her numbers were excellent (checked this out), I think she has great potential, and her personality is perfectly suited for a client I have in mind. How do I confront her about the lie? Or should I? And should I tell the client she lied?
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Hi Dem,

I was headhunting a candidate on Tuesday morning and the call went well and he said he was keen. I asked him to send his CV to me and he assured me he would. I called him again on Wednesday morning and again he said it was on it’s way. It’s now Thursday afternoon and I still don’t have it. He’s the only candidate I’ve managed to find who is right for the job. How do I handle this? Or should I just walk away?
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Hi Dem,

I’m having a major problem with candidates turning down offers, not starting, and taking counter offers. I can’t even count how many times this has happened in the last 3 months. I’m ready to kill! Do you think it’s a market issue where the candidates are just using me, or am I missing something in the qualifying stage? How do YOU qualify your candidates?
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Hi Dem,

I recently interviewed a candidate for one of my big clients and when it came to asking him about salary and package he refused to tell me what he was currently earning. I’ve never had this happen before. His reason was that he believes he is being paid below market- related salary and doesn’t want to get an offer based on what he is currently earning, but rather what he thinks he’s worth. Is this a reasonable argument, and how do I handle it?
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Hi Dem,

I have to get on the phone and present a Job to a candidate I headhunted this afternoon. I know she's looking. Do you have any advice? What's the best approach?
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Hi Dem,

I have a Candidate in the final process with my client. They are about to make an offer. How do I get the candidate to accept right away? Do you have any scripts I can use?
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HI Dem,

I need your urgent advice please! I have a great candidate who is only working with me. The problem is his CV looks like he’s a job- hopper. He has had 4 jobs in the last 8 years. All his reasons seem valid, but I just can’t get companies to see past this. They think he’s unstable. He’s really interested in making a change, but his CV is ruining his chances. How can I get companies to see this candidate?
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Hi Dem,

I placed 2 brilliant candidates at a company about 4 months ago (my first placements with this company, and it was relatively easy to fill).
When I did a courtesy call during the first month to speak to the manager on how the girls are settling in, he was very happy with their performance. When I spoke to my candidates, they were happy as well.
Yesterday, I get a call from both these girls telling me how they hate their jobs! The procedures the client company is following are all wrong, they don’t have the equipment that the client promised them, etc. And they are begging me for other opportunities.
They were both rated as very reliable when I did their references, so I know there must be an issue at my clients company with a lack of policies. I would hate for my candidates to leave due to this.
How do I bring this up with the client company? Or do I help them and find them alternative employment?
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Hi Dem,

I have a question for you. I place only 5% of the candidates I source, and I do not know if that is the industry standard or not. My problem is that I am getting 95% negative word of mouth advertising because of that and the time I am spending on these candidates is also considerable. My question - IS there any way of improving this word of mouth advertising by helping them in some way, which does not consume time, and most important, some way to generate income from them?
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Hi Dem,

I read a recent comment from you about candidates who aren't serious about making a job change. I don't think that's going to work for me. My clients company is truly in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, and even candidates who are serious about making a job change don't want to relocate there!
I am not sure how to sell this to a candidate without letting them get into the interviewing process. From what I read of your articles, I have to do that before I get the candidate engaged with the client. How do I do that? I am open to your ideas!
Here's the challenge Dem, and I hope you’re up for it! How do you source and sell passive candidates a relocation to a remote area? The job is exciting, it pays very well, the company offers both medical aid and pension, but it's in the middle of nowhere! There are no other good companies within 200km of that area, so if you move there you have few options.
Please don't tell me to look for another client, because that's a cop-out.
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Hi Dem,

I have been recruiting for over 7 years and have a placement I need your advice on. We've extended an offer to my candidate for R640K basic salary with a 20% bonus. The candidate is currently earning R600K basic salary with a 20% Bonus. I informed the client of my concerns in regards to the candidate refusing to give me an exact amount to accept an offer which has always been a red flag to me. The client wanted to make the offer regardless. The candidate wants to turn it down because he is looking for R700K plus R50K 'sign on' bonus. The client wants to negotiate the current offer on the table, and I find myself in a rare situation of wanting to advise the client to walk away because I feel the candidate's requests are far too steep, which I've already communicated to the candidate as well. What would you do in this type of situation? Our job is to never tell a client who they should or should not hire, rather to advise and consult during the hiring process.
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Hi Dem,

I'm not sure how to handle this. I ask all Candidates for Referrals but more and more they are just telling me they'll Email me with names. I wait and wait but almost never get a reply. I don't want to be a pest and call them every day. How would you handle this situation?
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Hi Dem,

Do you have any advice on how to get same day acceptances?
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Hi Dem,

We headhunted a candidate who, when we spoke to her, was happy at her current job; good people, exciting, modern company. BUT she is at a Director level and it is hard for her to have a hands on approach. She went to meet our client Friday evening -- she had rescheduled because her office made a last minute meeting at 5pm, so she rescheduled for 6pm Friday!!! Which to me shows she is interested. The interview was an hour and she liked it. She knew there were going to be exciting opportunities, she would be hands on and she would be strongly involved with design. And while the process is quite different than her current process, she will have opportunity to give more of her input, "maybe not as much as she would like but more than now", were her exact words. The candidate is currently earning R800K, plus a bonus [is supposed to be 50% but it has not been achieved in 4 years]. Our client has no issues with her salary and offers a 15% guaranteed bonus.
Our problem is, she likes where she is, she feels for the past few years they have been good to her and her project is her baby and hard for her to let go. She liked our client and feels she would like to work with them but she seems very emotionally connected to her current employer.
The candidate would also really like a job description, but in this industry at this level it isn't done. She knows it's vague but she doesn't have one where she is at the moment either and she would really like a frame of reference so that expectations are set. She believes it can always be changed with discussion, but having that would allow her to know how she is doing (i.e. how many people working under you on specific project...time lines etc.).
She knows our client would like to have someone as soon as possible, but even if the candidate decided to make the move, she is already committed to go to London at the end of March and in mid-April, to Russia, and wouldn't want to resign right after that. At best not before May, as she would not want to be unfair to current employers, as she really likes them and it's a small world...but she sees a good future with our client.
What would you do or say??? There is NO DOUBT her current employer will present her with a counter offer and I need us to have more powerful words and ideas when moving forward with her. What are your thoughts?
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Is it unprofessional/legal to tell a candidate that they will not be receiving an offer based on the reference check?

Our candidate went on 3 interviews and the client then asked her for references. She gave our client three names. The client said she checked them and wanted to make an offer. I told the candidate that they wanted to make an offer. The client and I start discussing start date, etc. In the meantime, the candidate sent over a fourth reference to the client separately. This reference apparently did not give the candidate a raving review. Therefore, they will not be moving forward with an offer based on a bad reference. What do we do now?

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