Why Recruiters Should Never Take Candidates At Face Value

For most people, it is a natural human instinct to want to believe people, to trust what they say. However, as every recruiter knows through bitter experience, candidates will inevitably not tell the truth from time-to-time. They may be white lies, they may be great big whoppers, but you need to protect yourself as a consultant from being damaged if one of these untruths is ever discovered. It could be disastrous for your reputation; if you’re recruiting in a specialized or niche area, one that could be difficult to recover from.

It’s important therefore that you never take clients at face value. It is your responsibility to check everything that they say on their CV and in their interview with you. Your client will pay you a good fee for placing the right candidate, this thoroughness of fact-checking is the least they deserve, and will make you a valuable asset to them. Here we take a look at some common issues recruitment consultant s come across…

Dates of employment

Quite often candidates will be quite vague with employment dates. Have you ever seen a CV with an entry like this?

Company: ACME Ltd

Position: Sales Manager

Dates: 2010 – 2013

Can you see what’s wrong? The dates. They are so vague. In theory, they could have worked there for a whole four years, or just over two years. This could be laziness, a lie, a deliberate attempt to cover a gap in their employment or simply lack of experience in writing a good CV. It needs clarifying though, because you’re not going to come across as thorough when your client queries it. Imagine if it later emerged they were covering up a stretch at Her Majesty’s Pleasure…!!!

Current salary

It’s perhaps understandable that some people will slightly inflate their current salary in the hope of securing a better wage in their next job. However, if you’re recruiting sales staff for example, it’s vital that you have documented evidence of their earnings. This is because a salesperson’s earnings directly correlates to their success. How many people do you ask to prove their earnings? It’s amazing how many people will try to fudge the question, which should start alarm bells ringing….

Reasons for leaving

This is a vital question that should be asked of each role the candidate has had. You as a recruiter should be completely happy with each and every reason they give, and any uncertainness or lack of clarity should be thoroughly investigated. It’s also important to know the difference between reasons for leaving a job, and reasons for joining another. Quite often, candidates will quote the latter ‘The role was perfect for me because it was more money, and offered me more in terms of career development…’ However this says nothing about why they left the last company. Were they bored, did they relocate or were they sacked…?

There are many more fudged facts that recruiters will come across every day. It is up to you to question everything, and get proof if you can. The more thorough you can be the better service you will be giving your client.

Till next time,

Cheryl