At some point or another we have all experienced the ins and outs that come hand in hand with being a candidate and searching for a new job. Some experiences are great and some are …questionable. Unfortunately, it seems that these questionable experiences are becoming more prevalent in our society right now, but they shouldn’t be classed as normal or expected.

I want you to know that as a candidate, you deserve a good recruitment experience. Whether through an agency or direct. At Sprint, we have a process for every single candidate, regardless of whether we have a role for them or not. And I want you to know what you should expect and what you deserve.

In uncertain times, I know it can be hard to be searching for a job, but just know that there are good recruiters out there and at Sprint People, we have your back. So, in the essence of transparency, I wanted to share with you the processes that we have at Sprint People, so you know what you should expect and how we treat each and every candidate.

Acknowledging EVERY application!

Every single candidate that applies to a job, deserves to be acknowledged. We know you have put the time and effort into your application at our request and we want to acknowledge you.

From our end, it is pretty standard (and simple) to set up an automated response to your initial application through most CRMs. Whilst automated might sound cold – we promise you, it’s not! It is simply a form of quick communication to say, “yes, your application has been received by us and we are on the case”. We receive hundreds of applications and this is the best way to notify you, and keep you in the loop.

When applying for positions and you don’t receive an automatic response, it may be a good time to triple check your email address to ensure you have put it in correctly. If after a couple of days you have not heard anything at all from the company, then know that it is very much acceptable to call and check that they have at least got your details on file for the role.*

*Remember though, this should just be a quick check in to see if your application has been received and to seek an idea of what the timelines are.

“Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted”

EEK! You will never and I mean NEVER, see this on one of Sprint People’s job advertisements. Not on Naomi Marshall’s watch! You deserve to know why you were not shortlisted for a specific position. No one wants to be left hanging wondering “why?”. It might not be that you weren’t right for the role, it could have been as simple as you applied towards the end of the process and they already had a candidate. Either way, you still deserve to know.

We believe that honesty goes a long way, and that candidates appreciate our honest feedback – even if it is hard to hear at the time. We are well aware that that your interactions and experiences with a business, can affect your perception of them (good or bad), so we want to make it as amazing as possible! Imagine if you didn’t want to work with us – we would be mortified!

Letting you know you were unsuccessful

Honest Recruiter speak – this is the trickiest part of our jobs! Why would anyone want to be the bearer of bad news? I think I speak for most recruiters when I say this as well, it’s so tough. I would love to offer everyone a job but unfortunately it just isn’t how it works.

I promise to never shy away from making the hard calls in a timely manner (aka, as soon as we get the feedback). At the very least I know you will appreciate the update. Whilst at the time it may be a tough interaction (because let’s face it, no one ever wants to be hear they didn’t get the job), we are confident that you will appreciate and respect us more for it in the future.

Honesty is always key. So if there is feedback that I can provide that will potentially help you in securing a role in the future, I will do just that! It may be small (and seem trivial at the time) but if the client is splitting hairs and you can implement that next time around for the win, then I want to be in your corner.

If you are not receiving this from other recruiters and hiring managers, I encourage you to ask for updates and constructive feedback. You deserve to know, after all you have put in your time and effort which is equally important.

Keeping candidates updated throughout the process

Sometimes people say to me, “I know you will call when you have some news”, which is true. However, if I am expecting news and I haven’t received it, you will get a call to say just that. Often times I’ll make a call just to say that the update is that we don’t have an update.

We care and will not forget about you

These are the bare minimum practices that Sprint promises to continue doing with all of our lovely candidates. Hopefully, this is also your experience elsewhere (it should be!).

But if it isn’t, remember, you have the ability to take control and make the call yourself. Remember you are a valuable asset to an organisation and you deserve respect.