The Candidate Experience is being recognized as an integral part of a talent acquisition strategy and nationwide several organizations are building “Best of” programs. More than six years ago, ClearedJobs.Net launched the Best Recruiter program to inspire recruiters to bring their “A” game to Cleared Job Fairs.
“We were seeing a disturbing trend in the community where recruiting was becoming transactional rather than building a relationship between the candidates and recruiters. We knew this would be damaging to companies and their recruiting teams in our industry,” says Kathleen Smith, CMO, ClearedJobs.Net.
“Building this program, inviting the job seekers to participate and providing recognition to the recruiters for their efforts has made a big impact on the recruiting programs for several of our customers.
“Trust is a big issue in the security cleared community and many candidates are more comfortable meeting with companies’ recruiters in person before they start their relationship with them. A Best Recruiter in this community recognizes the importance of the candidate experience as many candidates stay within the community for their entire career and are influencers of other candidates, “adds Smith.
The search for the perfect candidate and the perfect job can be a trying experience for both parties. By making this a positive experience, everyone wins. The recruiters recognized as ‘Best’ are those who put recruiting and the candidates first.
Since the beginning of the Best Recruiter program, a national program The Candidate Experience Awards was launched by The Talent Board in 2010. The Best Recruiter program has been credited with inspiring this national and international program.
The culmination of the Best Recruiter program is the Best Recruiter Celebration. This year’s celebration will feature Shannon Smedstad, social media and employer brand marketing maven who helped build the GEICO social media program and now is the Employment Brand Director for CEB’s. She is also a blogger for Blogging4Jobs, Brazen Careerist, NACE, WorkingMother.com, Careerealism, Secrets of the Job Hunt and Fistful of Talent as well as a presenter at Working Mother Social Media Summit, the Talent Management Alliance Conference, and recruitDC. The Best Recruiter Celebration is an invitation only event to those recruiters who have been recognized as Best Recruiters.