Best practices to follow when approached by a recruiter

Being approached for a job opportunity can be exciting for some and overwhelming for others. Being an agency recruiter, I have to actively approach professionals most of the time. Whether you're interested in a move or not, following these three simple best practices can benefit you and the recruiter who has approached you to foster a long term relationship.

Respond to the request

There are numerous ways recruiters get in touch. If you are on their database, they will either email you or call you. If it's on LinkedIn, they'll send you an Inmail or a connection request with a short message. Either way, it's always a good practice to respond to their message. Even if you aren't considering moving at the minute, it helps you build a good relationship with the recruiter if you decide to move in the longer run. A lesser-known fact is that recruiters have a limited amount of Inmail credits (each time you contact someone, you use up a credit). So, your response either interested or not interested, will give them that credit back. If they've emailed you, just send them a quick email back. It will avoid recruiters' multiple attempts to get through to you to eventually figure out that you weren't interested (we’re a persistent lot).

Take a phone call

Understandably, you want as much information as possible when you are contacted for a job. But trust me, recruiters can paint a better and clear picture of the job and the company over a short phone call than by email. Often, candidates' perceptions of the company can be varied, and recruiters can provide the most up-to-date information regarding recent development and growth plans. This will help give you a clear idea of the company, the role and the purpose of the job in the team. A call will also allow you to ask any questions you might have regarding the job rather than sending an email/message and waiting for recruiters to reply. Remember that you’re not signing up for anything by taking a call, it’s just an exploratory chat for both parties.

Thanks, but no thanks

Sometimes you might not be actively looking around for a new job, but you show interest in seeing what's out there in the market. That's totally acceptable. But once you know more about the job and decide that the opportunity isn't the right fit, please let the recruiter know; they will respect your decision and won’t force the issue, but ghosting is mean. The worst that can happen is that you're faced with a very pushy recruiter who will give you another go at convincing you. But if you stop responding, should the recruiter follow up? How many times before they gave up? And what about other jobs in 6 months? Should they rule you out too?

Same suggestions equally apply to recruiters: responding to candidate requests, arranging calls and providing them closure. When followed by both candidates and recruiters, these practices can help them achieve the desired result of any recruitment process.