Back to Cruel?

September 2 and many of us adults woke early, fearing the return to school.  Old habits die hard.  Kids are either excited or terrified but they are all on the bus this morning.

Summer is officially over and as many people push through the melancholy of hanging up their flip flops, some will be looking for new career opportunities.  After the vacations are over, the beach house is empty and the neighborhood pool is closed for the season, life will become routine again and discontent will settle in. 

People will look around and see that friends and rivals have been released in layoffs and wonder “will I be next?” and go in search of something new and different.  They will determine what they want in a new role, new company, and new boss etc. and go in search of the promised land of a new job.  They will polish their resumes (loading them with key words and a thousand “I was responsible for…” sentences) and begin the arduous task of applying for a job online.

How will you treat these new applicants this fall?  The same as you always have?  After all, the economy is down and you may not have the rush of openings typical of the fall frenzy of “spend my headcount budget or lose it” of past years.  Instead of 100 applicants for each job, you may get 200.  It is a pivotal moment in your branding opportunity.  Treating candidates well in a down economy earns major style points for those few who can see the forest for the trees.  The ACE you need in February 2009 (yes, I know you don’t know if you’ll need her or not today but you WILL, trust me…) may be that 163rd candidate that has applied for the position.  How will you treat her today?  Dignity and respect guarantee a return call in 02 of 09 and YES you DO have the time to treat all candidates with these two missing links to great recruiting.

Companies are cracking this code of treating all candidates well, just check out the article by Leslie Stevens on ERE. Where do you think candidates will want to work when the economy bounces back, at the company who took the time to treat them well or the company who failed to even acknowledge their presence?

Don’t make it “Back to Cruel”, change the way you treat your applicants today when you have time and develop the candidate management skills your competitors are.