Reap the benefits and avoid the pitfalls of working remotely
Taken from Recruiter Daily on 29 April 2008
Remote work can give you greater work/life balance but when it comes to recruitment there are some important things to consider, according to Cato & Hall director Amy Cato
Cato currently recruits for clients in South Australia and Victoria and sources candidates locally and from overseas.
She says one of the biggest benefits to recruiters of recent advances in communication technology is that "we are now able to access previously unutilised candidates. We are also able to recruit with confidence in areas where geographically we are not able to be present.
"Remote recruiting is something we can't avoid nor should we as it allows us the opportunity to work with clients that we previously couldn't service in the way we can now."
Cato says there are a number of things recruiters should keep in mind when performing work remotely.
Inform the client
In cases where a client hasn't requested that you recruit remotely, you must inform them that you won't be interviewing their candidate in person, Cato says.
"You need to communicate this to your client as soon as possible. When you have this conversation don't forget to emphasise your strengths as a recruiter, the intensive assessment process you will be taking the candidate through and your experince in hiring similar roles.
"The client needs to feel confident that they are not compromising quality because you are not there to assess the applicant's physical presentationl. Instead if you are upfront and honest about your limitations they will base their expectations around the candidate's suitability for the job only, which should be the only relevant criteria anyway."
Ensure you really understand the client's needs
Getting the perfect match between the employer's culture and the candidate's personality is one of the biggest challenges consultants face, Cato says.
"Add to this that you as the consultant may not have had the opportunity to visit the client site and this can lead to difficulties. So do your research, be as thorough as you can be when ascertaining job details and ask to speak to other staff at that site to gain further insight.
"Don't forget to ask the hiring manager how they would describe their management style, the environment, and also how they themselves like to be managed as it will give you vital indicators as to the type of candidate that would respond positively to their leadership."
Document everything and perform intensive checks
Cato says that keeping appropriate records of the process the candidate undetook will save you time and headaches down the track.
"If the candidate at the client site mentions to their peれrs that you have not met with them in person it can appear that th agency did not uphold its obligations, even though the HR department will know otherwise. Remember perception is reality. It will also cover you should there be any performance management issues down the track, by being able to show that you took all necessary precautions and conducted all relevant checks."
Use online information
Candidate sourcing has been made easier through an aincrease in job boards and candidate attraction sites, Cato says.
"The emergence of candidates creating their own online profiles which employers can search through has given us an initial glimpse of the candidate's computer skills and interests that we didn't previously have. This enables us to qualify candidates more quickly but also to find out a bit more about them before we have even picked up the phone.
"we can use this to our advantage when we are recruiting remotely as candidates in distant locations are accessible online and may already have a profile that we can view to understand what their ideal job would be."
Provide post-placement support
"As we all know in recruiting, post-placement support is our primary tool to ensure an ongoing relationship with both our clients and candidates," Cato says.
"In remote recruiting this is even morecritical to ensure your candidate is ok on site but also that you remain in the employer's mind for when they next recruit.
"For temp placements this is critical in avoiding any liability issues that could arise if the candidate does not have a clear understanding of who their employer is. It is also, of course, the most powerful way of marketing your company and brand to the client."