Do you rock this recruiting super-power?

How often has a client said something you know is wrong or suspect is not in their interests, but you let it slide because ‘they are the client’?

A great recruiter knows they are the expert and must manage the process.

There is a risk that one might interpret ‘pushback’ as a form of confrontation. This is not how I am using the word at all.

I’m talking about a recruiter who has self-belief and the courage to offer the client a different point of view that is in the client’s best interest.

This is not an adversarial situation.

Indeed, I have found that challenging a client’s assumptions or hiring strategy and advising them on a better way builds respect and trust between the recruiter and the client.

It doesn’t have to be something huge. For example, the client might say they liked the two candidates they met today and suggest a second interview in ten days. In that situation, you need to push back and explain the situation’s urgency to the client and the risk of losing quality candidates.

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Or, the client wants a planned new hire to work 5 days in the office. You advise that this requirement will cut many of the best candidates out of the shortlist, and maybe a 3/2 office/home split will attract higher-calibre prospects.

The requirement to ‘pushback‘ emerges throughout the recruiter job. In many ways, it is your job.

• Qualifying the job order
• Selling job – order exclusivity
• Selling the shortlist
• Managing the interview process
• Negotiating the salary and the offer
• Negotiating fees and margins

Pushback encourages open dialogue between yourself and the client and establishes the rules of engagement. A recruiter who doesn’t push back when they know they should inevitably end up conceding to the client’s whims, regardless of what they might be.

That inevitably leads to poor outcomes, which, by the way, the client will blame you for!

The recruiter is left frustrated and often feels somewhat demeaned. Also, very frequently, unpaid.

It’s not good

Pushing back on a client’s direction when you know you should provides an opportunity to demonstrate your value, prove your worth as a trusted advisor, and confirm that you genuinely have recruiter equity.

And the swift evolution of the recruiter role in the wave of AI and automation actually means pushback is of even greater value.

If all you do is ‘transact’, tech will replace you. Your value is your ability to advise, consult, offer insights, tell stories, and create outcomes and strategies your clients would never think of.

Because you are the expert!

Of course, tone, language and facial expression are important because you are not trying to be aggressive or condescending. Instead, you are a professional expert advising your clients for their benefit.

Respectful, consultative ‘pushback’ builds credibility and better relationships.

It allows you to influence outcomes for the greater good.

That is pretty much what your actual real job is.

It is also excellent for your self-esteem, which you may not yet realise is the foundation of success and fun in our industry.

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Tech is changing. Customer expectations are changing. The economy changing

The question is, are you changing?

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