Last week, we talked about the importance of making small contributions to those in your talent pipeline.  We’ll provide some more ideas in future articles, but I wanted to cover a few important “don’ts” as you start to think about ways you can better engage those you are hoping to recruit.

1.  Don’t underestimate the effectiveness of consistent follow-up.  Anyone who is successful in a sales position knows that persistence is a prerequisite to success.  One of our clients, the general manager of a large services company, once told us that he never calls a vendor back until after he gets the 3rd call from the sales person.   Why?  In his own words… “That’s the only way I can know that the person is serious.”

Recruiting is sales, and consistent follow-up with your candidates is the only way you’ll be able to produce long-term, across-the-board success.  There are very few exceptions to this rule.  The good news is that persistence does work, and almost anyone can be successful at it.

2.  Don’t get discouraged when candidates don’t respond. The difficulty with persistence is that it often does not offer very much positive feedback.  During an initial meeting it is common to make a good emotional connection with a candidate.  The natural expectation is that the positive experience will carry over into the follow-up phase of the recruiting process, but this is often not the case.  What’s more typical is that you send several emails and don’t hear back… You leave voice mails, but don’t get your calls returned… You may even send hand-written notes, but there is still no reciprocation.

Don’t give up!  Instead, adjust your expectations.  You’re not this person’s personal friend or relative, so don’t expect to be treated like one.  You’re a professional acquaintance who has something to sell (an opportunity).  People can realize and respect that you’re doing your job, and they can even envision themselves working for someone who executes their business duties with professionalism.  But, that is where the emotional connection ends.  If you expect more, you’re ego is in the way.

3.  Don’t expect technology to replace personal attention and effort.  Because recruiting is a process that involves so much repetition, there is a temptation to automate as much of the process as possible.  While there are tools that allow you to be more effective, it is a mistake to over-rely on technological solutions that minimize human connections.

If you set up a candidate on a drip email system that automatically generates canned emails, your efforts will have some potential impact on the candidate.  But, don’t expect it to have the same impact as a personal note or phone call.  Human beings respond to personal connections— this is not going to change.

The bottom line…recruiting is hard work.  If you’re willing to do the work, you’ll be successful.  If you’re constantly looking for a short-cut, you’ll likely continue to experience frustration.