Most truly talented candidates did not get to the top of the talent heap without a few bad experiences, such as companies that seemed to offer good opportunities but failed to live up to their potential promise. After experiences like this, they are naturally skeptical when approached by a recruiter or company hiring manager with a job opportunity. To reach top talent and break through their skepticism, talent managers need to build trust with candidates and show themselves to be different from others who have approached these candidates in the past. Building Trust With Top Talent It may seem difficult to distinguish yourself from the pack, but a few key strategies can give top talent the confidence to respond to your overtures rather than rebuff them. Once you have gained trust, candidates will be willing to at least listen to what you have to offer. So, how so you go about building trust? Try these tips: –Connect on a personal level. Many recruiters have a long list of people to call, so they focus on a generic pitch and hope it piques someone’s interest. Recruiters who want to build trust take some time to find out each potential candidate’s interests and attempt to form a connection in the initial conversation. Candidates will be impressed that you took the time to find out about them, and will respond better to your pitch. eBook: Using Social Media for Executive Search – Learn how to leverage social media in your executive search process more effectively. –Let the pitch arise naturally at the right time. The longer you can wait to give your pitch, the better chance it will be seriously considered. If you are trying to hook a candidate, put out some quality bait; invest some time in the relationship and offer your skills, help, or advice outside a job offer before trying to reel someone in. –Whatever you do, be honest. After a few bad experiences, top talent learns to sniff out even the slightest hint of deception. Do not try to make an offer seem better than it is, and do not hedge on key details, hoping they will not ask. If there is something that you simply cannot reveal until after an offer is accepted, just admit that rather than trying to gloss over it. Making something sound too good to be true is a red flag and may hurt your case rather than help it. –Keep candidates in the loop. There is nothing worse than not hearing from a recruiter or hiring team when you are waiting on communication, so be sure to keep your word in providing updates or returning calls when you say you will. It means a lot to a candidate when you call to say that a decision has not yet been made, rather than leaving the candidate hanging for another day or week, waiting and wondering what is happening on your end. When trying to fish from the same small talent pool as so many other companies, you will need all the help you can get. ThriveTRM software will help you maintain the trust of top talent by making it easier to stay in touch and keeping everyone involved in the hiring process informed about every development. Schedule a demo today to explore all ThriveTRM can offer.