Candidate as Customer

100 of us passengers sat on a Delta plane for an hour last week waiting for it to leave the gate.  The problem?  Paperwork not properly filled out!  We would have been really pissed, but something strange happened.  The pilot slowly walked back through the entire plane...stopping at each row and talking to anyone who was interested.  He started with "Hello.  I apologize for the delay. Thanks for your patience."  It wasn't his fault of course.  But that didn't matter to him.   We realized it was a selfless act and that meant a lot to us.

I wonder how often we forget to treat candidates with a similar level of care.  We can't spend time with every candidate.  But a little extra effort goes a long way to change how recruiters are often viewed (see "10 things to hate about recruiters" in ERExchange bloglines blog). 

Sharpen your recruiting skills during the free Talenteer Challenge tomorrow (and you might even win an iPod!).