Empathy and Soft Skills, Essentials to be a Recruiter

By the end of 2019, the whole world changed drastically. We can say that every aspect of our lives was affected by the pandemic, in many parts of the world social distancing and quarantine have been mandatory, for that and many other reasons hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs.

Home offices represent a really good opportunity for many companies, the chance to grow for the ones that were working in this modality before, and, to stay in the market for the ones that haven't considered this type of work.

In the first semester of 2020, many people were looking for a remote position, and, for companies that were working in this modality previously, this helped to attract good candidates that in different circumstances would not consider working remotely, however, things have changed recently, as many companies have transformed the way they work to remote, nowadays the work from home offers are really common, especially in the IT Industry where it is possible to transform most of the positions to fully remote.

Nowadays, we as recruiters face some interesting challenges to attract good talent, one of them is as there are so many offers available, applicants don´t reply to our contacts attempt or when they are in a hiring process, they are in many processes at the same time and they just decided based on the shortest process, or the one that looks more interesting in the first contact, also, candidates that may be interested in a job change, don't dare to do the next step because last year and a half they have been feeling stressed and anxious because they were facing challenges they'd never experienced before and the main thing they want is job stability. In a market with so many opportunities and circumstances, talent agents need to improve their communication, positive attitude & work ethic, also, trying to understand what candidates might be dealing with outside the recruitment process, that is Empathy and Soft Skills.

In short words, Empathy is the ability to identify and understand another's situation or feeling, and, Soft Skills are interpersonal skills or attributes that enable a person to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people. Knowing how to use both of those abilities is vital in any type of interaction, more in business, but even more significant in the recruitment industry.

With empathy we engage and create a connection with the applicants, you need to understand your applicants, apart from the salary you need to think from their perspective, what are their real expectations, trying to create a connection that makes them feel comfortable talking with you and make them feel that more than a recruiter, you are someone that is really interested in helping them, if you understand your applicant's circumstances, you can offer to each applicant what they really need and also you will know the right time for them to complete each part of the hiring process, you can work base on their availability, and, in most cases this makes them feel more committed with the process.

As recruiters we always pay attention to the Soft Skills during the hiring process, positive attitude, emotional intelligence, communication skills, professional work etiquette, being a problem solver, and being a team player are some of the skills that are always nice to have in an applicant´s profile, however, it´s important to show those same qualities that we are looking for. When recruiters implement those skills in the process, makes the applicant feel more comfortable about the whole interaction with the company, this shows professionalism, this gives the applicant a perspective of how the company works and treats its employees.

People are looking for a pleasant, interesting, and efficient experience while they are in the hiring process, apart from a good salary, they desire is to work in a company that cares about their needs, not as a number, but as human beings, and, as the 1st contact from a company, recruiters have the duty to provide that feeling and of course always providing realistic expectations, that is where Soft Skills and Empathy play an important role, they will make you stand out from other companies and recruiters.