Let me share a familiar tale.

You send a client a shortlist of three candidates for a specific job order.

By your estimation, they are all worthy of close consideration. You firmly believe that they all should be interviewed.

Before sending that shortlist, you should have done many things – but three are essential.

You are more transactional than consultative if you don’t or can’t do them. Your client relationships are shallow or non-existent. And you will be replaced by automation. (Oh, sorry, that got dark very quickly!)

Here they are.

1. You took a thorough, detailed, consultive, and qualified job order.
2. You only selected candidates for the shortlist you authentically believe should be interviewed for this job.
3. You ‘pre-sold’ the candidate to the client via a phone or VC briefing

If you do those things, the problem I will explain is incrementally less likely.

But here it is.

You wait for the client to respond to your shortlist. When they do, it is a short note saying, ‘We will interview Lee, but not the other two candidates. They are too light on experience.‘

That’s it. No further correspondence will be entered into.

Sound familiar?

I see recruiters celebrating in the face of this scenario. ‘I got an interview’ is the cry. (It makes me cry when they do that!)

Do you accept that your client rejects candidates you present on your shortlist? This is no celebration moment. You have failed. You lack ‘recruiter equity‘. (Read about ‘Recruiter Equity‘ here. You will not succeed without it)

Recruiter equity is your clients’ trust, buy-in and belief in your ability and judgement. It combines your experience and knowledge, giving you the power to advise clients and truly impact the outcomes of your interaction with them. Most recruiters lack this altogether. The client’s rejection of their advice and candidates when they present a shortlist for a permanent brief is a classic example of how this can be exposed.

If a client rejects or will not interview any of your shortlisted candidates, it can mean only one of two things: This will hurt. It’s true, nonetheless.

1. You misunderstood the brief. You got it wrong.

2. The client does not trust your judgement.

It can mean nothing else.

Both of those outcomes are a disaster. They mean you did not achieve equity in the relationship with this client.

Equity means ownership or a share of ownership: in this case, joint ownership of the problem and the solution. You are the expert.

In your judgment, these candidates fit the brief. However, once the client rejects your considered referrals, it illustrates that you are not trusted. The client is taking ownership of the solution. (Even though they are most unlikely to be qualified to do that. If they were, why have they briefed you?)

You have become a transactional referrer of résumés.

I understand it’s hard. Clients often try to dominate or will not communicate through the process. I know TA frequently gets in the way. But that’s no reason for you to concede your role as an objective expert advisor.

Building recruiter equity starts with taking the job order. At this point, you will map out your process and sell the quality of your screening and matching. It continues with the ‘shortlist pitch‘, where you will confidently overcome objectives and ‘sell your candidates in‘. Finally, you must challenge the client on their decision to reject your shortlist. You recommend those candidates for a reason. Stand by those reasons.

Tell the client you ‘stake your reputation’ on these candidates. I have used that line for years. It is excellent how often it worked. Only do it if your candidates are good! They are worth seeing. (Of course, this assumes you really believe in your shortlist and have not padded it!)

If you do this well, the short-term reward will be that the client sees your candidates for this role. But, more importantly, the client learns to respect your belief in your process and recommendations – and is unlikely to question future referrals.

Instead, the client will perceive you differently and take you more seriously, and the dynamic will change forever – infinitely for the better.

This is an excerpt from my book ‘Recruit. The Savage Way’, and there are video modules that go into more depth on the Savage Recruitment Academy.

Connect to me on LinkedIn.

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