The Importance of Details
Hear from our Managing Partner, Mark Tyrrell, on why every detail is important in hiring process communications — from the resume to scheduling interviews.
“My team of recruiters knows that sometimes I seem to harp on certain details that don’t seem that important — a missed comma, mismatched font sizes — and if they would believe it, I’ve actually softened a bit since we got started! But there is a reason for this that I want to share. It is our aim to show our clients that we’re solid and that they can rely on the information we give them about candidates. Scrutinizing details and ensuring a well-crafted resume end product from our candidates shows our clients that we know our stuff and that we care about how our candidates’ professional messages are received. Our clients don’t typically measure the accuracy of the information we provide them, but each communication we send and piece of information we share gives them a sense over time for whether or not we’re trustworthy and care about the accuracy of that information, including those resumes. If we don’t send a consistent, message, or if our candidates have resumes with too many errors (no more than 3 little ones, okthanksbye), or if we don’t use the same meeting subject format when we schedule an interview, attaching the resume for convenience, how can our clients be sure we asked the right questions? Does that show that we really screened these candidates so they can rely on our answers? The little things done right over time demonstrates that we really screened these candidates so they can rely on our answers.
Each communication and follow-up — an email, a call, a text or a LinkedIn message — builds confidence in our work or diminishes that confidence. Since we work in technical recruiting, we can’t forget that our clients are typically more detail-oriented by nature than us recruiters are, so they likely will see even more issues than we would if we don’t slow down and make it a focus. I know some of these things like email subject lines and sending an exacting standard set of information with our candidate submittals may seem like littler things, but getting the little things right matters because it shows that we care about the details and that we won’t let the big things slip through the cracks, something the legal team for the 80’s band Van Halen apparently agreed with. That same consistency also helps our teams build credibility internally so they can trust each other. It’s important here amongst co-workers that the other team members know we aren’t cutting corners elsewhere.
I recognize it’s more work to be consistent with all those details, but the more consistent we are, the more credibility we build. The more credibility we have with our clients, the more candidly we can handle a problem or a negotiation when things go awry and a candidate “all-of-a-sudden” seems to have had a change of heart. Our clients will recall that we’ve been solid on everything else and that gives us the latitude when things go wrong to collaboratively work to the same end goal, which is to help them find a new hire who truly fits, not just one we can get across the line for now.”
If you are interested in hiring or being hired, get in touch with the people at Right Resources.
