How to Convince Candidates in 7 Steps

The % of people
open to changing
jobs has spiked in
the past 4 years.
Yet as a recruiter,
it’s still hard to
convince
candidates to join
your organization.

To uncover the best ways
to convince someone to
change jobs, we
interviewed 7 highly
sought after candidates
and 2 expert recruiters.
We asked them for their
best advice on wooing
candidates.
Here’s what they said:

How to convince candidates
to take your career
opportunities in 7 steps:

Reach Out
Candidates respond when you
personalize your messages by
relating their experiences to
your opportunities.
Step 1:

“Sometimes recruiter interactions can feel very
mechanical. It's hard to know what exactly they are
looking for and how they are differentiating between
candidates and opportunities.”
Sung Kim
Financial Planning & Analysis Manager, The Honest Company
More 2015 job changer insights

“The recruiter said, ‘You have an interesting LinkedIn
profile.’ He meant my master’s thesis which was about the
London Olympics and thought I’d be a good fit this role.”
Émilie Gauthier
Assistant to the Executive Director of Sport, Canadian Olympic Committee

“Nobody wants to get a super templatized email. Instead,
focus your attention on sending five or six pointed emails per
day versus playing a numbers game. Make your
communications count; people can feel your genuine
interest that way.”
Alex Caiola
Manager of Corporate Recruiting, SoulCycle

“There are recruiters who don't run a great process.
Candidates take that as a sign of how things work at that
company. If there are communication lapses that can be a
real turn off for candidates.”
Yoni Lateiner
Nerd / Recruiter, NerdWallet

Personalize your messages:
Show candidates you’ve
researched their profiles to
ensure they’re a good fit.
Less is more: Fewer
personalized messages gets
better results than more
templatized messages.
Be reliable & fast: Stick to
when you say you’ll follow up.
This builds trust. Respond as
quickly as possible.
1)
2)
3)

Brand
Once you start talking to
candidates, they’ll start
researching your organization’s
website and talking to
employees.
Make it easy for them to get
information. Provide
discoverable online content,
polish up your personal brand,
and equip the hiring manager
and employees to be brand
ambassadors.
Step 2:

“I did what a lot of people do, I networked. I had three,
separate unrelated connections to this company. There is an
element of risk with any new job, but having informal
conversations with the hiring manager and another employee
outside of the formal interview process made me feel like I
knew what I was getting into.”
Danna Klein
Senior Product Marketing Manager, Mixpo

“The mission of a company matters to me. I know many
companies have aspirations, but Gilead actually delivers on
theirs. They aren't just satisfied with a drug that makes
people better, they are going for a drug that cures disease.”
Wendy Goretski
Associate Director Business IT – R&D, Gilead Sciences

“It's great if people do their research online about SoulCycle
and what we're all about. There are plenty of interviews to
watch and read. Julie and Elizabeth do a great job of
conveying our core mission.”
Alex Caiola

Make their research easy: Make
it easy to discover what it’s like to
work at your organization through
rich online content.
Elevate your recruiter brand:
Ensure your personal brand on
LinkedIn is one candidates will
trust and respect.
Cultivate brand ambassadors:
Enable the hiring managers and
their teams to help you recruit.
Encourage them to seek referrals
on social & professional networks.
1)
2)
3)

Listen
Candidates want to feel
understood. Quickly get to
know their career goals.
Then, match them with the
right opportunities.
Step 3:

“Listening is the primary thing… I was looking for a startup
opportunity to build a new business, and wasn't particularly
passionate about retail at the time. It was a recruiter that
ultimately found the role that aligned to both my professional
goals and my personal motivations. I was able to jump in and
start K-12 Education for Kindle. It was the perfect landing
spot.”
Dave Vasen
Founder, Brightwheel
(The first mobile platform for early education, serving schools, daycares, and families)

“Not everyone is going to be a fit, not every job is right for
everyone. Really try to figure out what people want, what
their motivations are – help them talk through that.”
Yoni Lateiner

Prepare & ask good questions:
What are your career goals? What
are you looking for in a new
company, team, or role?
Test your understanding: Check
whether your role fits their goals and
motivations. If it doesn’t, understand
why not & see if there’s a better role.
Confirm the role is a career move:
If it’s not, it won’t make sense to
move forward. If it is, move the
recruiting process forward with them.
1)
2)
3)

Be Honest
Candidates want real
information, not a sales pitch.
Do your homework to give
them an accurate picture of
the organization and role.
Step 4:

“Really being honest and candid is important. If a recruiter is
dishonest that potentially leads to attrition and unhappiness.”
Damien McCreath
Senior Assistant Brand Manager, P&G

“Great recruiters are very transparent about a company.
Nobody is perfect, no company is perfect. Let's talk about the
strengths and the weaknesses, and allow them to make that
call about what to opt in for.”
Yoni Lateiner

“This is changing someone's life, it's not selling them a car or
a computer. Just be honest. Taking a new job is a huge life
change that someone's livelihood is based on, so it should
never feel like a 'sell'.”
Alex Caiola

Do your homework on the role:
Learn the projects they’ll do, what
success in the role means, what they’ll
learn, and their potential career path.
Match the role with their goals:
Candidly communicate how the role
may or may not fit the candidate’s
career goals.
Share the good and the bad: Reveal
both positive and negative parts of the
job so candidates they decide for
themselves if they want to opt in.
1)
2)
3)

Make
Connections
Candidates learn more when
they can speak with current
employees who are similar to
themselves. Employees can
share the good, the bad, and the
ugly about what it’s really like to
work somewhere.
Step 5:

“It is helpful to be connected to people who are currently in
that role or a similar role that I'm applying to or am
interested in.”
Damien McCreath
Senior Assistant Brand Manager, P&G

“The VP of talent set up several meetings with senior leaders
so that the candidate could get a better sense of where the
company was going and who they were as leaders.”
Yoni Lateiner

Connect candidates with current
employees: Candidates appreciate
honest advice from those working in
similar roles, with similar career
goals, or similar values.
Ask those employees to give you
feedback: This gives you more
insights into the candidate’s fit.
Build a network of employees
willing to talk to candidates:
Having go-to employees speeds up
the recruiting process.
1)
2)
3)

Advocate
Candidates appreciate it when
recruiters help and champion
them once they’ve made the first
cut. If they’re a good fit for the
role, prepare them for the next
steps in the recruiting process.
Help the hiring manager and
their team realize that they’re
talking to a high quality
candidate.
Step 6:

“The recruiter sincerely said, ‘We really think you’re a good
candidate, if you do not get this job, we want to find
something else for you.’ It really made me feel that we
were working together.”
Émilie Gauthier
Assistant to the Executive Director of Sport, Canadian Olympic Committee

“Everyone wants to wait for that one perfect person but that's
just not how it works. You have to help the hiring managers
think about their ‘must-have’ qualities versus where the
candidate can grow.”
Yoni Lateiner

Fight for your top candidates to be
hired: Help them through the process
by giving them enough information to
prep for interviews.
Help great candidates apply for
another role: Sometimes the candidate
is top notch, but isn’t a fit for one role.
Help them consider another one.
Set hiring manager expectations:
Ask them to consider their “must-haves”
versus where they can take a risk.
1)
2)
3)

Follow-up
Expert recruiters recommend
building relationships with
successfully placed candidates.
This will help you assess
whether you did a good job
placing them in the right role. If
you have a good relationship,
you might even be able to rely
on the candidate for referrals or
place them again in the future.
Step 7:

“The good recruiters track with you over time and are proud
of what you’ve accomplished. They look out for your career.
This is the type of recruiter that I will hire someday because I
trust they will bring me the type of candidates that I want.”
Stacy Nagata
COO Stealth Film/TV/Digital NewCo

“It doesn't stop when they say 'yes' to the offer.”
Yoni Lateiner

“I find it necessary to follow-up because it's important to
make sure they like their new job and they feel invested in
what they are doing.”
Alex Caiola

Get candidate feedback: This
helps you improve. Is the job what
they expected? Is there anything
they wish they had known sooner?
Do they love what they’re doing?
Stay in touch: This way, you can
go back to them for referrals.
Connect with them: They may be
a great candidate to place again in
the future.
1)
2)
3)

Want more 2015 global
job changer insights?
Get report

Authors
Samuel Jones, Ed.D. ‘17
Director Strategic Initiatives, Wharton
School MBA Career Management
Sam has placed hundreds of MBAs in
the world’s best companies. He also
leads organizational development
projects for the Wharton School. Sam
is completing his doctorate the
University of Pennsylvania.
Erica Marks, M.S.Ed.
Senior Associate Director, Wharton
School MBA Career Management
Erica manages a team that advises
companies on how to recruit Wharton
MBA students. A former Corps
Member with Teach For America, she
regularly interviews prospective
teachers. Erica completed her
Masters degree at the University of
Pennsylvania.
Esther Lee Cruz, MBA
Insights & Content Marketing Manager,
LinkedIn Talent Solutions
Esther enjoys connecting people with
opportunities using her marketing,
analytics, and design chops. She’s
excited to work at the intersection of
recruiting & technology to help people
reach their full potential doing work they
love.

Qualitative research methodology: We did purposeful sampling to find a mix of industry experience, gender, and generation.
Changing jobs and/or careers was the common thread among all participants. We asked each person the same open-ended
interview questions and probed them with additional questions to dive deeper. The average interview time was 30 minutes over
Skype. We used applied thematic analysis techniques borrowing from case studies and grounded theory. We validated interview
findings with a mini focus group of LinkedIn recruiters and participant member checks.
Limitations: Our sampling frame included invitations to internationally-based participants, but none responded with the
exception of one person from Canada. Therefore all participants were from North America. The interviews included a high
representation of MBAs, Millennials, and Gen X professionals.
Future research: Could use more extensive validity techniques such as multiple focus groups. In future research, we suggest
including other countries, Baby Boomers, and professionals from a larger variety of functions.
One-on-one interview questions:
1. What are your short and long-term career goals?
2. Did you interact with recruiters at any point in your career changes? If yes, tell me about the interaction.
3. As you think about the job changes you went through, what were the circumstances prompting or motivating you to
change jobs?
4. If they mention a generational motivator, use drill downs.
5. As a woman, what is important to you in a company or role? (Women only)
6. What about the company overall resonated with you?
7. What is your advice to a recruiter who wants to recruit you?
8. Probes: Can you tell me more? Can you elaborate?
Methodology
©2015 LinkedIn Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

How to Convince Candidates in 7 Steps

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