Recruiters plea to job portals like naukri/monster/timesjobs

Dear HR Friends,



I pen this down after long period of Frustration and Irritation. I had been in this field for quiet some time of 3 - 4 yrs.

The recruiter spends his effort, time, energy in identifying and finalizing the candidate for the right job. He does this following all the Industrious process that the management devises for him, but at the end of the process, the candidate refuses to join for his own whims and fancy.

This loathsome habit is not practiced by a fresher or uneducated. It is purely by well educated and experienced personnel.I personally feel that this lethargic behavior by candidates is because; their expense in any form is nil. It's the Employer who buys the product and Recruiters who uses the product is badly affected by this.

To curb this menace, I feel that if the job portals like naukri/monster/timesjobs etc could add “Recruiters Comment” in individual profile, at least it will help other recruiter in reducing their processing time and catch only the one who is really in need of relocation. Also this will help in bringing down the dirty attitude of few mischievous people. Hope every recruiter would accept to this.

I request HR friends to raise voice towards this. So that Job portal team pay attention to this problem and give a suitable solution, else.

Naveen

Yes, Naveen, this has to be taken care of.
Even I have come across many such candidates; sometimes they don't even respond to our call or mail to inform us or give us the reason why they don't want to join. I agree with you, Naveen.

Regards,
Prabha.

Well, I, as a recruiter, believe that when you start giving feedback to candidates, only then will the candidates respect you. Think about how many candidates you call, take their profiles, and personally reach out to them. Do you call them, email them, and let them know whether they are selected or not? Do you take the time to inform the candidate of their status?

No, you don't. So, most recruiters suffer.

See if some times candidate may not be able to join for genuine reason so at that time he may be affected.....:(

In that case, they can still respond to our call and give that genuine reason. But candidates don't respond to our call.

Regards,
Prabha.

Hi Naveen,

Though I am relatively new to the arena of Recruitment, and I don't know as to how I would react - if things like that would keep happening to me, but I would still want to comment on your issue.

Naveen, as recruiters, the onus of promoting the organization to a candidate is on our shoulders. If the organization does not have a very strong branding exercise, we, as recruiters, have to ensure that the candidate does not walk out of the organization with a bad impression.

The other thing being - it is simple market dynamics, Naveen. I am not really sure about the sector you are working in, but if it's IT/ITES, things like these are bound to happen, and that is where the challenge lies, right? I mean, if we had everything that would attract talent, if we were Google, our jobs would have been relatively different - so, we will have to face the brunt of recruitment, Naveen. Take care.

Dear Naveen,

I have around 4+ years of experience in Recruitment, out of which 3+ years are in recruitment consultancy.

I can understand very well the problem you are facing, but you can't help it as this is part of your job.

Always remember that the taste of success increases by 10 times when it comes after the taste of failure.

If portals were to add a column called "comments from recruiters," people could misuse it and harm the candidate's career by posting negative comments. For example, if I schedule an interview for a candidate and he doesn't turn up, I might put a negative comment without even knowing the reason for his absence. There could be any reason, but recruiters often consider it as an excuse only.

To address these issues, you can develop the skill of judging the interest level of the candidate by conducting a telephonic round. Ask him why he is looking for a change, what reasons motivate him to seek a change, or find out in any other way.

Hi!

I understand your frustration; however, we should also remember that judging the candidates is also the recruiter's responsibility. He/she should be able to judge what really makes a candidate join or what is the motivation for accepting a particular offer. I also acknowledge that it is not so easy to judge candidates, but that seems to be the only way out.

Nowadays, there are a lot of notorious candidates who do this either to get a higher CTC or to negotiate with current employers.

Your views, please...

Hi Naveen,

This is true, but do you think the management of these sites will come forward to help recruiters? For them, candidates are their products which they are selling.

Regards,
Rathish

Hi! We also face the same. I think there should be a portal where we can blacklist such candidates.

Hi!

I don't agree on this. There are many things that a candidate might consider before joining an organization. I feel we, as recruiters, must not compel them to accept our choice. We are doing our best, but we should leave the choice to the candidate. We should not post their remarks on portals as it could have a negative impact on their career profile. Therefore, let's do our jobs and leave the rest to the candidate. If they join us, great; if not, that's okay too. This approach is followed by many international agencies. I believe Indians should also adopt this policy.

Thanks and regards,
Sadhana

Hi,

I think it's not good on our part to post our comments on candidates in job portals. If a candidate is not joining the organization, there would be a genuine reason behind it. He may have been headhunted by another recruiter or received a better pay package and growth opportunity with another company. A lot goes into that, and we as recruiters need to understand all this and keep our options open.

Look at the international market; they are so open. Have you ever seen international recruiters? They won't think like we are thinking now. They are open in their approach and don't mind whether a candidate joins them or not. They do keep their profiles for future use and contact them again. With this strategy, they have built up a good base of candidate profiles.

Hope you got it.

Thanks and regards,
Sadhana

Hi All!

I am associated with a startup firm. I have approximately 4 years of experience in core recruitment. However, in this firm, I'm handling other aspects of HR activities as well. I wish to seek your advice on certain leave-related queries.

1) As per our company policy, employees are not entitled to take any leave during the probation period, i.e., 3 months from the date of joining (DOJ). If an employee takes leave during this period, should that be counted as LWP (leave without pay) or advance CL or EL?

2) What kind of leaves can be categorized as Earned Leaves & Casual Leaves? It would be great if you could share a detailed leave policy with me.

3) In our company, we have 12- EL, 6-CL, and 6-SL per annum. As per this, every employee is entitled to take 1 EL and 0.5 CL per month. If an employee joins in the middle of a month, for example, on the 18th of a month, how should the EL & CL be calculated for that particular month?

I will be really obliged if I can get your help on this.

Regards, Tanna

It happens, it happened, and it will happen as long as competition exists. Competition will never die...?

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It happens, it happened, and it will happen as long as competition exists. Competition will never die...?

I know how frustrating it would be when a candidate betrays us after accepting the offer; I've experienced it many times. This is the biggest challenge that every recruiter is facing now. And as Sujeet says, "The taste of success gets increased by ten times when it comes after the taste of failure." Let's relax after giving our best and leave the decision to the candidate; it's after all his career.

I have worked as a recruiter and I have faced this as well, but blacklisting any candidate is a rather shrewd idea.

This is similar to credit card sellers (the people who call you to request you to take their credit card) say that people don't take our card after saying they will - we should be given the power to give people bad credit ratings so they don't get any bank loans in the future.

It's up to the candidate to decide if he/she wants to join - and it's up to the company and the recruiters to make sure they do by showing them the benefits and treating them well.

Hi Naveen,

It's really true. I feel only 1 out of 10 selected candidates joins. I feel these experienced candidates just take the offer to attend the interviews and show it to other employers to get the desired offer. Or there are people who feel they should keep giving interviews to stay updated.

But whatever you said is perfectly right. As job portals have the facility to comment on the profile, visible to only those login IDs, these portals should have a feature like one more comment visible to all subscribers. That would truly give respect to the recruiters' efforts. I completely agree with you.

Cheers,
Ujwwala

I agree that recruiters are under pressure, and because of this pressure, we end up calling or convincing the candidates who really don't want to change their job. Recruitment is not for the sake of lining up candidates; it is about getting the best candidate out of the pool already in place.

Hence, a proactive approach needs to be taken, i.e., everyday search for at least 10-20 CVs that are genuine (good candidates looking for a change in CTC and profile discussed) and add those to the pool. Constant churning (reviewing the database at regular intervals) of the database is a must. This way, we stay in touch with the candidates, thereby helping us to increase the network as well.

Hi Naveen,

In this case, we should respect the candidate's decision because it's his future. The candidate has the right to make a decision on whether to join or not; it's his future. It happened to me once. I had a candidate shortlisted for one of our manufacturing clients. I had scheduled the interview for him, and after the interview, he used to call twice a day for feedback. However, we didn't receive feedback from our client. After two weeks, I scheduled him for the HR round again. He continued to call me, even at 11:00 PM, asking for feedback. He was really disturbing me, but eventually, he got placed with a very good package. He had a notice period of 2 months, so I used to follow up with him regularly. I even spoke to him the day before his appointment. He said he was ready to join, but on the day of his appointment, he had switched off his mobile. He replied through email, stating that his current organization had given him a salary hike and promised a promotion. Here, I don't know whom to blame - the candidate, his present company for giving him a hike, or the client for delayed feedback. I finally thought that it's my fate and took some references from him because it's a monopoly market.

In the international job portal called Dice, there is an option to rate the candidate. Even the recruiter has the option to rate the candidate, and the candidate can send a confirmation rate to the recruiter, which avoids duplication.

Hi Naveen,

If I am not wrong, I have heard that something like Recruiters' Comments is already available with JOB STREET. The problem here, like others have pointed out, is the genuineness of the comments and how one can ensure that the comment is not biased. Personally, I now do not want to be a part of JOB STREET because of this feature.

Regards,
Muthukumar K

They just paste their resume for good openings, not for each and every one. So we must think according to their needs and try to call those candidates who are in need of the job, not each and every one. It's a waste of time and money. Try to contact through references as it's the best way to reach the person in a short span of time.

- Anurag Sharma

I agree with the sentiment that some action needs to be taken. It is not just the candidates who engage in this behavior. I have had some negative experiences with clients who use the search list to fill their database and then refuse to pay the fees. What can be done about such clients?

Dear Naveen,

I have around 4+ years of experience in Recruitment, out of which 3+ years have been in recruitment consultancy.

I can understand very well the problem you are facing, but you can't help it as this is part of your job.

Always remember that the taste of success increases by 10 times when it comes after the taste of failure.

If portals were to add a column called "comments from recruiters," people could misuse it and harm the candidate's career by leaving negative comments. For example, if I schedule an interview for a candidate and they don't show up, I might leave a negative comment without knowing the reason for their absence. There could be any reason, but recruiters often consider it as an excuse only.

To address these issues, you can develop the skill of assessing the candidate's interest level by conducting a telephonic round. Ask them why they are looking for a change, what motivates them to seek a change, or find other ways to gauge their interest.

Sujit, I agree with some of your points. There may be potential for misuse in such a system. However, as recruiters, we would likely still contact candidates with a few negative comments on their profile. It would be a different case if a candidate had multiple negative comments from various people, indicating a recurring issue that needs consideration.

The purpose of introducing a recruiter's column on job portals is to make candidates aware that making false commitments to companies or recruiters can impact their reputation. The idea is that candidates should have something at stake.

Thank you.

I don't find anything wrong in the candidates' preference. It is their choice and their prerogative to join or not to join. As recruiters, we should be prepared for such 'surprises'. Have a second line, preferably someone who showed interest in joining in a short time. No portal will include a recruiter's comment as it could harm their domain reputation. As some have pointed out, there might be genuine reasons for not joining. Just as all is fair in love and war, it is equally fair for the candidate to pursue a better opportunity - whatever it may be.

Regards,
Sabari Venkat

Dear friend,

It seems you are very frustrated with someone who did not join at the exact time when you had to listen to some words from your boss. See, what you say is not entirely wrong, but if you look at the candidate's point of view, he/she also wants to get the best in the industry and where they feel they get the best, they join. We cannot blame them just because they did not join! Instead, you should give examples of those who join the company and make you feel proud and help you in completing your targets. It's not easy to make someone join, and that's why you have been hired by your company - to search for the best talent and place them in the client's company to fulfill the requirements.

For example, if you get an offer from Bajaj Finance and later on you get an offer from Kingfisher or HSBC, I am sure you will think it over and will join where you want to, right? So obviously, that's the same psychology any candidate has when they look for a change. They cannot sacrifice the best in their view for the best in your view. I hope you are getting my point. You are going to put your comments the way you get the response from the candidate, so don't feel bad. The recruiter is someone who wins.

Watch the movie "The Recruiter"; you might get a feel for what it is all about!

Hi Naveen,

I have been in the recruitment industry for the past 1.5 years. After having similar experiences, I completely agree with you that candidates turning down offers after finalization is the most frustrating part of recruitment. But, as others have said, we cannot help it. The market is quite dynamic, and the number of options for a qualified profile is significant. It also depends on the sector you are recruiting for. In the IT and ITES sectors, such occurrences are very common. Put yourself in the candidates' shoes and consider weighing between multiple offers, finalizing the best one according to your preferences and comfort. Surely, one has the right and freedom to do so.

The suggestion you gave about adding recruiters' comments on job boards can have both positive and negative repercussions.

- It depends on the requirements and the availability of suitable profiles in the job market. If a candidate is technically proficient, confident in their skills, and aware that their type of profile is scarce in the market, they may manipulate the situation.
- Consider a scenario where the recruiter's mindset is not positive. Upon viewing fellow recruiters' comments, they may not put in effort in sourcing. Instead, they might only look for profiles endorsed by other employers as technically sound and persuade them to consider counter offers.

The only solution is to have backups! :)

What do you suggest, Naveen?

Dear Naveen,

The recruiter is looking for potential and talented candidates, and the candidate is looking for a good workplace. So, when we call the candidate for an interview, we should keep in mind that the candidate is sending his CV to many companies. He may choose our offer or reject it. Therefore, we should be prepared by shortlisting more than three candidates for the position, as this is the recruiter's job.

Thanks and regards,
Sumawed

I have seen many instances where people from South India don't actually want to relocate to other places, but they attend interviews. Once they receive an offer, they express their preference to stay in South India only. This behavior is not ideal. If you know you do not want to move to Mumbai or Pune, why attend the interviews? When a recruiter senses that their candidate is progressing through the interview rounds, they focus their efforts on that individual.

Dear Naveen

First off all I am surprised to see an experienced person saying this, however, let me ask you how much time have you / would you take, to do these aspects which you have mentioned i.e. time, energy and Finalizing a candidate, have you questioned yourself if you have given enough time to know his requirements before hand.

This is a career not any whim and fancy to take a call just like that, there might be a strong / good reason for a candidate not to take an offer.

Fresher and uneducated person doesn't know the market well, he sees it through you, so you would be the lucky one for him, it's the other way round for an experienced person.

I saw most of the replies and found most of the people here are having positive frame of mind which is very good.

I don't think so, only person effected is you I guess, let me give you an example you are working with fire and you have burnt your hands, and you want to make sure every one knows this which is good, however there are precautions mentioned before hand how to handle it, let it be a small flame / big flame, if you have faced some thing make sure you find ways to come out of it too. Rather than ask / suggest to change the system.

As it's easy to bring a change in you compared to bringing a change in the system,
which is going to be tough.

It is not a matter of agreement; it's a matter of business and management for Job portals.

There are many other factors to be considered too, what if he is not given the opportunity, would he be given an opportunity to write comments on recruiter too. You got to look at both sides of it.

I am catering to International market and even I see this often happening, so I take the precautions to talk to candidate at least 45 to 60 Minutes in first few interactions to make sure I understand him well, I would be the one who would drop the candidate rather he drops on the offer.

I think Job portal team cannot even consider this as they are not getting paid by recruiters, neither by candidates, it's a free service which is been utilized / used by a candidate. Once this sort of things starts its going to adversely effect the Job Boards and they would not be used, which is going to be a hit, you got to look at from a management perspective also.

So what I think is, you got to learn from mistakes and make sure you become cautious and aware of things as you move on..

Though I am very new compared to what you are, I am hardly 3-4 months old in recruiting, and I want to share my views, kindly acknowledge my views if you find then interesting, if not kindly hang on for the better view to hit your question.

All The Best !!!

Thanks & Regards
Justin

Hi,

I totally agree with your point. There should be a section or comments from recruiters that candidates can read and understand. Otherwise, recruiters put in so much effort, and in the end, there is a drop out. It's such a stupid behavior by candidates. I really hate candidates who just come for time pass, only to judge their capability and are not serious at all.

Thanks,

Divya
Kelly Services

Hi,

This is quite common in all places; there are few candidates who are really looking for a change. You need to find out such candidates for your openings where you need to judge and do a lot of analysis before taking them for an interview.

There are more candidates who will do window shopping after getting the offer letter. I might have faced a lot of issues in this case. I will call them and follow up to find out the reason; they will say many lies. Try to convince them, and there are a few who will have attitude issues.

IT companies have to bring certain norms; this has become quite common now, and the time that recruiters spend will be wasted when the candidate doesn't join.

In the US, this is followed very strictly within companies. They will put them on a blacklist.

Folks,
It is imperative to note that at the end of the day each one of us (candidate & recruiter) are trying to do the best and in the process trying to get the best of what is available on hand. I am speaking this with a mileage of over 10years in the IT field.
Let's say a brilliant candidate pips you for another job and you are frustrated? I empathize with your frustration. But do you realize that the candidate has put on stake his career while the recruiter has spent some money/time with the candidate? Also, a point emerges, that some other recruiter has done a better job in attracting the candidate you looked at, is it not?
I agree that a few candidates play around and that is a very lesser ratio in the larger scheme of things. May be the set you worked with last was a horrible set of candidates.
Anyways, bottom line the candidate's career is at stake and respect the decision of your customer?@!
Folks, the recruitment agency have to face with two customers (candidate & resource seeking company).
Patience is the name of the game. Try, to get innovative in finding out the likelihood of candidate picking your offer. The chances of you needing the candidate are more than the candidate needing you. Develop a positive relationship with the candidate, who knows tomorrow he who dumped your offer today, might become your cash-cow.
Thanks
Ram

Dear Naveen,

Its a nice topic and once in a while sitting abroad I have also had to come through this on occasions. But the matter of fact remains the same. The process I see in the recruiting is a step by step confirmation.

Initially HR gets a request for requirement of a new employee from the concerned department head, which is then put up by the HR to its wings of publicity. Shortlisting happens and the first round of interviews start with the concerned department team lead or the head interviewing the candidate. Again shortlisting happens and the technical side of the successful candidate is put to test to make sure, he/she knows what they claim to know. The third round happens after the final shortlisting with HR.

So basically you have enough time to measure the candidate to see if he/she would be interested in joining you. Cos for each steps the candidate acknowledges, and I would say its a 1 in 100 that the candidate would not show up for the last and final rounds of the interview. The reasons could be they have a better offer in hand and that cannot be matched by you, or they have a better environment to work with than what you offer, or could be just a vague cause.

Like they have another options/ we also have ours. If you ask me, I dont do call any candidate more than a couple of time to the maximum if they aint responding. One of the luxuries we might not have always is time. So I believe, we should go ahead with other options.

I know there is a cost involved in this whole process as time spent is money invested. But then again, this is not happening to us in our daily life. And also, the job is more costly to the candidate than the candidate is for us, as no company would exist seeing that this certain candidate would be hired and he will do good. Screw ups can happen, but you can always see the bright side through the tunnel.

Cheers
Jain

This is what happened with candidates who are not ready to move from North to South after receiving the offer. Therefore, it is the recruiter's job to clearly check why the candidate wants to relocate and if there are any strong reasons for it.

"I have observed many instances where people from South India do not actually wish to relocate to other areas but still attend interviews. Once they receive an offer, they mention that they prefer to stay in South India only. This behavior is not ideal. If one knows they do not wish to go to Mumbai or Pune, why attend the interviews? When a recruiter senses that a candidate is progressing through the interview rounds, they focus their efforts on that particular candidate."

Hi all,

It is a serious issue. Instead of just telling Naveen not to get frustrated, the candidate must be having a problem. Just try out some solutions like:
1) Ask him for an accepted resignation letter copy (so that we can ensure he intends to join).
2) Instead of just finalizing immediately one candidate who is fit for the job, interview some more and put 1 or 2 candidates on hold so that if he backs out, then we can give the offer to those candidates. This way, the project/assignment will not be affected.

Hi!

I don't agree on this. There are many things that a candidate might consider before joining an organization. Therefore, I feel that as recruiters, we must not compel them to accept our choice. Yes, we are doing our best, but we should leave the choice to the candidate. We should also refrain from posting their remarks on portals as it could have a negative impact on their career profile. Let's do our jobs and leave the rest to the candidate. If they choose to join us, that's okay, and if not, that's okay too. This policy is adopted by many international agencies, and I believe that Indians should also follow suit.

Regards,
Chakri

Hi Everyone,

Please help me in getting resumes for our company requirements. Ours is a small company where we cannot pay to get candidates. Is there any other better way to attract candidates? Please inform me.

Thank you.

Naveen,

By this time, you should have gained enough experience to judge who has the inclination to join and who simply enjoys interacting with recruiters.

Isn't life the same way in other industries as well?

Prior to transitioning to HR, I had a marketing stint, selling computers. When my company participated in road shows, trade fairs, etc., way back in 1994-95, there were at least 20,000 people attending the shows in 3 days. Imagine conversing with at least 1,000 people for 3 days and only managing to sell 5 or ten computers. The rest of the attendees came solely to learn about PCs, to argue, debate, and do everything else except make a purchase.

After enduring 2 years of such experiences, we ceased participating as it was evident we were squandering our time and money.

Therefore, there's no point in feeling frustrated; instead, develop strategies to overcome these challenges. If portals were meant to display recruiter comments, eventually candidates will refrain from posting resumes, leading to unresolved issues for you.

I believe you will be able to resolve these matters.

Good luck.

Sridhar

Hi,
It is good that you have raised this issue,Even i feel the same and the job portals should pay some attention towards this problem.
Regards
Sapna

Hi,

I would say I am neutral about this topic. The fault lies with both of us... I mean with a recruiter as well as with a candidate. We never call the candidates back to let them know the status of their profiles, and in the same way, they never answer our calls to let us know their cup of tea is different.

There may be times, even if we are streamlined in the process of communicating the information to candidates, still there are ditches. We can't just analyze a candidate just because he/she didn't accept our offer. It's not fair to mark a candidate unethical on his profile; it smells very badly when a recruiter marks that.

Regards,

Raga Sandhya.M

Hi Naveen,

I do agree with you, but many times we are not giving feedback to those who have attended the interview with us. So, mistakes are happening from our side as well. We need to make calls to those who have been shortlisted. However, at the same time, we also need to review the list of those who have not been shortlisted and at least send them an email informing them of the outcome. Being in recruitment is quite a tough and challenging job, so don't get fed up.

Hi,
i am totally agree with you. If Job portal add this feture hten its gr8.
Regards,
Nehal

Hi Naveen,

If I understand your problem correctly, you are agitated by the fact that "Candidates do not join" after taking up the offer.

You can review the situation on two counts as a Recruiter and as a probable candidate (when you would be looking for a job).

As a recruiter:

1. You are following a tedious process as outlined by your management. Review this process to ascertain if there are any process gaps or flaws that prohibit you from the recruitment objective. The process, as a matter of fact, could be so lengthy that the process compliance takes you away from the purpose/objective of the process.

2. Your experience 3-4 years in the recruitment field. Having spent a couple of years in this domain, I am sure the "offer rejection" phenomenon is not new to you. Your focus now should be to study the reasons for which offers are rejected in greater detail. An excellent recruiter is the one who is able to use their expertise (gained with experience and exposure) to find the right fit. You should go beyond just getting the desired numbers on board and be able to review the recruitment scenario as a whole.

As a Candidate:

Let's look at answering a few questions here:

1. Would you prefer as a candidate to have recruiters write comments about you? A Job Portal caters to the candidate as much as it does to the recruiter. A job portal also needs to provide the widest range/number of resumes for the recruiter to optimize the search. Hence, a candidate's consent/agreement is equally important.

2. Do you feel disappointed/dejected when a recruiter does not come back to you with your interview status? Both the recruiter and the candidate have an equal onus of updating each other on the status. I understand that the recruiter may have to update several candidates for not being shortlisted, but effective communication is a two-way process. In this context, both parties should be able to have an open dialog and set expectations right from the onset.

Naveen, here I am mentioning just a few points for you to assess the situation and your probable course of action. The core message is that your objective should be to have a better "Hit Ratio" or closures. I can assure you that a recruiter writing a comment about a candidate on a job portal will definitely not solve your issue.

The most feasible option is to study your selection process, sourcing options, current recruitment scenario, and previous recruitment trends!!

Lastly, Recruitment/HR deals with managing people, and that's where the challenge lies.

All the best for your recruitments...

Best Regards,

P.S.: Naveen, please reply to my post; I would like to hear your comments.

Dear HR friends,

Even I have faced the same sort of situation many times, especially within the IT industry. It is common for a candidate who is supposed to join not to do so within the stipulated time, despite our continuous follow-ups. Regarding the issue Mr. Ravi raised, I would like to mention that most HR professionals do have the courtesy of sending a rejection letter to the candidates who were not selected.

Regards,
Rupha

Hi Naveen,

I understand that everyone is facing the same problem. I appreciate all the discussions. There should be a feedback column in the portal, but it should not affect their career. As recruiters, we have to motivate and mold them. We should stay in touch with the candidate until they are selected and joining. We need to provide feedback from time to time. Only then can we be sure of their joining.

Prathima

Hi,

Yes I do agree with this problem. We as recruiters, all face this problem at some or the other point of time. As aswini said, lot many things come into picture in this process, job portals with two way perspective, candidate/recruiter's both, choice with the candidate join/not join etc.

So what I feel is, rather than wasting our time & energy in compelling & commenting such un interested & unethical(some) candidate's, better to use the same efforts much on understanding the candidate's need for the job change & getting the right candidate on board.

Regards,
Pavani

Hi,

What I think is, comments will not really help. But suppose you select a candidate and want him/her to join deliberately. Then, after the selection, try to call him/her every 3-4 days until the candidate joins you and ask about his/her present status. Try to read the person, i.e., is the person really interested in joining your organization or not. I know it's a bit tough but it really helps rather than waiting for the person until his joining date comes. I applied it and really found it good.

I think we (recruiter) should request government/HR gurus to help with providing solutions, maybe like a website for blacklisted candidates to assist us in reducing our efforts (time, energy, money, etc.) cost at least. As per the present scenario, the recruiter's end result is decreasing as much as 10:3.

Dear Naveen, please keep me in the loop.

Regards, Ram

Dear Naveen,

I agree with your points. I am also facing similar problems, especially with experienced individuals. They often present more challenges, complete the entire process, and then disappear from the place. We need to take some steps to prevent this, or it will become hectic for the recruiters.

Regards,
Viji

Hi Naveen,

I totally agree with you in this regard and must say the suggestion given by you is really appreciative. In this way, the candidate will think twice even before applying for a job.

But if we look on the other side, what about the recruiters who'll use this just to take revenge?

Hi Naveen,

I totally agree and empathize with you. We all share and have been through this agony at some point in time. But I feel we should think of a more realistic way to tackle this problem. Maybe we can sharpen our interviewing skills and formulate a more structured approach. I am suggesting this because I am working for a training organization, and we keep getting requests for this kind of program from good and renowned companies.

Dear Naveen,

I am also a recruiter and have faced these problems. But, I don't agree with your view that there should be a column in portals for the recruiter's view because sometimes genuine candidates may suffer due to this. Because the recruiter is not always right.

-Sandhya

Hi Naveen,

Your version, based on your experience, is correct. However, the candidate has every right to refuse to join. That is why any recruiter should be very careful and try to have a backup in terms of other candidates who can replace him immediately. Also, getting information from the candidate who has actually accepted the offer to join is crucial. You should be able to judge whether he/she can really join. This is where the recruiter plays a vital role. If it is the right job for the right candidate, he/she will definitely join. So, don't get discouraged, have a proper plan, and anyone will succeed.

Best wishes, Kumar.

Hello all,

I am with K. Ravi on this. Most times we receive profiles of candidates, call, and sometimes interview them but never get back to them. I don't think any site would want to leave a comment on a candidate's profile because if they do, most people will stop using the site, causing the site managers to lose revenue.

I believe recruiters should focus on relationship management when communicating with candidates from the initial interview until an offer is either accepted or rejected.

Hi,

I will support K. Ravi, as it is correctly said, even recruiters don't take any pain to inform the candidates about the results. When they call, the recruiters also don't update the candidates.

As far as this case is concerned, one should not be allowed to comment on anything like that. But it is very much expected from candidates that they should at least tell the recruiter about the reason why they are not joining.

Regards, Monika

Hi,

I can understand your frustration. As a recruiter, we have to source alternate candidates if the candidate does not show up for the interview. There may be some other reasons the candidate did not attend the interview. We don't blame the candidate.

Hi Naveen,

Realize the fact that we cannot blacklist a candidate, as it is his career and he has the right to judge which is the right job opportunity for him. He may collect different offers but could only work for one employer. It's simple human nature.

When we go to shop, we look at different choices and select one. We cannot purchase each and every brand or product we lay our eyes on.

So, cheer up. Keep your spirits going and narrow down on another candidate. After all, this is India, and we have a huge pool of talented people out there. "Someone's loss is someone's gain." I hope you understand.

Hi,

I totally agree with Naveen. If people are not responding to your call, then email them once or twice. If there is no response, act accordingly. Marking comments will spoil a candidate's future, so think and react!

Hi,

We need to understand that there is an intense competition to attract quality manpower. Many companies are coming out with new and innovative ideas to attract talent. Gone are the days when candidates used to queue up for a job. We have moved from the seller's market to the buyer's market now, which means there are too many opportunities available for one candidate. This has created a situation where recruiters like us have to put in extra effort to rope in a candidate. Despite that, if the candidate doesn't join, the reason is that there are numerous options available for him. The solution to this is "innovation." We as recruiters are the brand builders of the company. Just like a sales guy has to sell a product to his company, we have to sell our company image to potential candidates. And this calls for innovation...

"Innovation is the key to success."

Dheeraj

Hi Naveen,

"What you say, I correct. If you are going to mark, what's the yardstick you are going to use? Who is the right person?"

Thank you.

Hi Naveen,

I think it is a really good idea to post recruiters' comments in the portal. However, at the same time, I do agree with Thajudeen that some candidates may have genuine reasons for not joining. But at least they should inform us about their problems. Most of the time, if they are unable to join, they don't answer the call, so we are unable to determine the reason for not joining.

On the other hand, considering our senior, Mr. Sujeet's comment, this section could sometimes negatively affect the career of a good candidate. Therefore, we, as recruiters, should accept this attitude of our candidates as part of our job.

Regards,
Tarana

I strongly agree with what Naveen is saying. I have been in recruitment for a year and am fed up with these candidates' attitudes. Please read through this, as I want to share one incident.

One guy, I really need to specify him. If any recruiters source his resume, beware of whatever crap he says :-x

His name is Anil Gupta, an "Oracle Portal Developer" working in CapGemini, BLR. We were about to send him to Romania for an onsite opening. He was so interested, sent his profile to us, and we wasted our time conducting interviews (3 levels). He agreed to all norms, and we asked for his passport for further visa processing. He said he would come directly to Chennai. We wasted more on his airfare tickets, and he signed the onsite contract, getting an offer for 5 times his gross salary at CapGemini. He didn't bring his passport, giving an excuse that he would send it by post. He came to Chennai, wasting our time and money, playing around and giving a silly excuse that his project manager is not relieving him from his company. He took that offer to bargain with another company. All my time, effort, hard work, and money are wasted. I am getting fed up with these types of money-minded crooks.

I strongly suggest that these crooks should be punished. I didn't want to specify his name, but my anger and frustration couldn't hold it anymore.

Vexed,

HR Internal Executive

I strongly believe that your reimbursement of travels in this case was made a bit early. Usually, what we do is reimburse the candidate for his/her expenses once they start with us. That might seem odd at first glance, but this works fine without any frowns from the candidates if your company is established and is an equal opportunity provider. You should have wasted no time with this candidate further when he told you that he would courier the passport, as what I understand is that he insisted on visiting you personally. Maybe you should reconsider the same before making any commitments to candidates about reimbursing the costs incurred by them.

"I strongly agree with what Naveen is saying; I have been in recruitment for a year and am fed up with these candidates' attitudes. Please read through this, as I want to share one incident. One guy, I really need to specify him, if any recruiters source his resume, beware of whatever he says. His name is Anil Gupta, an "Oracle Portal Developer" working in Capgemini, BLR. We were about to send him to Romania for an onsite opening. He was very interested, sent his profile to us, and we spent our time conducting interviews (3 levels) with him. He agreed to all norms, and we asked for his passport for further visa processing. He said he would come directly to Chennai, so we wasted more time on his airfare tickets. He signed the onsite contract, got an offer for five times his gross salary at Capgemini. He didn't bring his passport and gave an excuse, saying he would send it by post. He came to Chennai, wasting our time and money, playing around and giving a silly excuse that his project manager is not relieving him from his company. He just took that offer for bargaining with another company. All my time, effort, hard work, and money have been wasted. I am getting fed up with these types of money-minded crooks. I strongly suggest these crooks should be punished. I didn't want to specify his name, but my anger and frustration couldn't hold it anymore. Vexed, HR Internal Executive."

Anger and frustration are significant obstacles an HR person has to overcome to be successful. Don't you think that this has, in turn, affected you as an unsuccessful recruiter more than the candidate?

I strongly agree with what Naveen is saying. I have been in recruitment for a year, and I am fed up with these candidates' attitudes. Please read through this, as I want to share one incident.

One guy, I really need to specify him, if any recruiters source his resume, beware of whatever crap he says. His name is Anil Gupta, an "Oracle Portal Developer" working in CapGemini, BLR. We were about to send him to Romania for an onsite opening. He was so interested, sent his profile to us, and we wasted our time conducting interviews (3 levels) with him. He agreed to all norms, and we asked for his passport for further visa processing. He said he would come directly to Chennai, so we again wasted money on his airfare tickets. He signed the onsite contract, got an offer for 5 times his gross salary of what he is actually getting in Capgemini. He didn't bring his passport and gave an excuse, saying he would send it by post. He came to Chennai wasting our time and money, playing around, and giving a silly excuse that his project manager is not relieving him from his company. He just took that offer for bargaining with another company. All my time, effort, hard work, and money are wasted. I am getting fed up with these types of money-minded crooks. I strongly suggest that these crooks should be punished. I didn't want to specify his name, but my anger and frustration could not hold it anymore.

Vexed,
HR Internal Executive

Sheesh, you just flushed out your entire frustration it seems. Even I do sometimes on Cite HR, and it helps me to keep cool. :-P:-D

Yes, it is. HR, being the Professional Human behavioral science, we would be learning something new every day. Cheers and all the best.

Regards,
Jain

Dear Members,

What Naveen has pointed out is of great relevance to all of us in the recruiting cycle. Even the operations are not happy with No-SHOW candidates or candidates who confirm but don't join, but that is why recruiters are there in the first place.

I have a few suggestions for all of you and hope that something concrete comes out of them.

1. All recruiters (on a company level or personal level) should stay in touch for regular RECRUITER MEETS.

2. They should openly discuss candidates who are slippery in nature, don't return calls, or don't join even after confirming.

3. Recruiters should decide on a common operating procedure wherein they don't poach candidates who are being interviewed by other recruiters.

4. Recruiters must call or email candidates who don't make it to the shortlist or final round selection. These recruiters should also pass their resumes to other recruiters who may have similar openings for them. This may lead to a little loss of revenue, but not everything can be done for revenue. What goes around comes around – you too shall get candidates from the other recruiter.

5. All of the above actions should be done honestly and without any backstabbing by other recruiters or companies.

6. Someone mentioned a website where such slippery candidates are listed. The website expenses could be paid by all users or borne by a select group that charges others to log in to this database.

7. Think big, but start small... maybe this initiative can be taken up at the city or location level first and then implemented across the country with much fanfare so that candidates also think twice before committing to go ahead with the recruitment process.

If there are any takers for Pune, please email me at [email protected].

Regards,
Abhishek Bhatara
R&A Services
Pune

Dear Members,

What Naveen has pointed out is of great relevance to all of us in the recruiting cycle. Even the operations are not happy with No-SHOW candidates or candidates who confirm, but don't join, but that is why recruiters are there in the first place.

I have a few suggestions for all of you and hope that something concrete comes out of them.

1. All recruiters (on the company level or personal level) should stay in touch for regular RECRUITER MEETS.

2. They should openly discuss candidates who are slippery in nature, don't return calls, or don't join even after confirming.

3. Recruiters should decide on some common operating procedures wherein they don't poach candidates who are being interviewed by other recruiters.

4. Recruiters must call or email candidates who don't make it to the shortlist or final round selection. These recruiters should also pass their resumes to other recruiters who may have similar openings for them. This will lead to a little loss of revenue, but not everything can be done for revenue. What goes around, comes around—you too shall get candidates from the other recruiter.

5. All of the above things should be done honestly and without any backstabbing by other recruiters or companies.

6. Someone mentioned a website where such slippery candidates are listed. The website expenses could be paid by all the users or borne by a select group, which charges others to log in to this database.

7. Think big, but start small... maybe this initiative can be taken up at the city or location level first and then implemented across the country with much fanfare, so that such candidates also think twice before committing to go ahead with the recruitment process.

If there are any takers for Pune, please email me at [IMG]https://www.citehr.com/misc.php?do=email_dev&email=YWJoaXNoZWsuYmhhdG FyYUBybmFjYXJlZXJzLmNvbQ==[/IMG].

Regards,
Abhishek Bhatara
R&A Services
Pune

Dear all,

What I have raised is, we have to give comments on bad attitude candidates who are playing with offer letters and fooling the HR. When the candidates agree to join after receiving the offer and then back out, it's not that they don't pick up the call or don't attend interviews, etc. We should also think in a broad-minded way. I think the issue is heading in the wrong direction. The issue is about the bad attitude of the candidates.

Naveen.V

Hi All Readers,

I wish to add that this whole thing is not just about a candidate turning down the offer. It's their choice to join the company or not, but we just need to identify the candidates who don't respect the work that we do. Truthfully speaking, we recruiters see around 100 profiles per day and continue with the process. However, when it comes to identifying such candidates in one year, it will be a maximum of 5 candidates that we really want to put in the recruiters' column. It's only a meager percentage that we want to bring to light.

I experienced a slight variant case where I recruited a person in sales who also joined our company. After a week's time, it was found that he manipulated the salary and relieving certificate issued by the HR Department and bravely submitted that it was issued by HR. When inquired, it was found to be false. Later, he accepted his mistake and immediately, voluntarily left the job to join the great Infosys.

We should bring such individuals to notice. Job portals should implement these requirements. I hope this conversation/topic provides sufficient support for such implementation.

Thanks

I disagree with this. Why spoil candidates' future by considering our future (closures)? We will also be candidates for other jobs, and if someone posts bad comments on our profile, then what? So please, friends, think and proceed.

Adding comments is not as easy as you think, Naveen. If you add such comments, the candidate can sue you for affecting their career. Everybody has the right to choose a job of their interest. We can't write any comments just because he/she has not joined our company; this may even spoil our company's image.

Hi Naveen,

Thanks for this post!

Well, the frustration is quite obvious, but let's not forget that "one recruiter's loss is the other recruiter's benefit." Ultimately, it is that person's career, and all have the freedom of choice here. It's fair enough if it is conveyed in a professional manner well in advance rather than ignorance and just a couple of days before the joining.

It is the recruiter who has to judge the candidate with all regards before offering such dicey candidates and accordingly plan a backup. This is the biggest challenge for a recruiter.

I completely disagree with your view!

Hi, what you have told is absolutely right. There will be so many reasons to not attend the scheduled interview. This happens mainly with consultancy and small-scale companies (not branded), but once you get into a good company, such problems will be resolved.

I just wonder why 63 [HR & Non-HR] say that the offenders should not be punished. In practice, if a person commits a mistake, we see that he is punished so that he does not commit that mistake again. This happens even from our school days in all walks of life. Even the law punishes the child who makes a mistake for the first time. In fact, a dog is also punished for its mistake. Aren't these people having a future for themselves? Why do we, so-called educated and experienced, run a different law for us?

It's not only the attitude of the candidate. The time and money we spend on the candidate are high. If we also make a mistake knowingly, accept it, and be ready for the consequences; else, don't commit it. It's fair enough.
Padhma

Hello friends,

After reading all the replies, I would like to add something. It's true that sometimes people get caught in a genuine situation, but what about those candidates who are expecting a 100% salary hike or those who blame the consultant in the middle of the interview for not sending the job description? Failing to explain the role, they find it easy to give this flimsy excuse. Some people reject offers because after their candidacy is shortlisted, they expect a senior-grade position. I don't believe any consultant would forward a candidate's CV without discussing the position level, role, and location. So why do they ask for a senior level after all the rounds?

I have worked in senior as well as junior positions, but 70 times I have faced problems like my wife being hospitalized, receiving an urgent call from my boss, having to attend a sudden meeting, forgetting my cell phone at my friend's house, being on the way but getting into an accident, and so on.

What criteria should be used to determine whether he/she is facing a genuine problem? And when the same excuse is given by many candidates, what should a consultant do? Even our clients scold us severely because they believe it's our responsibility and we have failed to complete the task.

Today, people believe that if you have another candidate, we also have another job offer.

Dear Naveen,

I have around 4+ years of experience in recruitment, out of which 3+ years are in recruitment consultancy.

I can understand very well the problem you are facing, but you can't help it as this is part of your job.

Always remember that the taste of success increases by 10 times when it comes after the taste of failure.

If portals added a column called "comments from recruiters," people could misuse it and harm the career of the candidate by posting negative comments. For example, if I schedule an interview for a candidate and they don't show up, I might put a negative comment without knowing the reason for their absence. There could be any reason, but recruiters often consider it as an excuse only.

To address these issues, you can develop the skill of judging the interest level of the candidate by conducting a telephonic round. Ask them why they are looking for a change, what motivates them to seek a change, or find other ways to assess their interest.

Sujeet

I did not agree, because we are thinking only HR side. Keep yourself on others place & then think over it. Many questions will come in your mind.
Pl. come discus that questions also.