In a skill short market, good candidates become the Holy Grail. The recruiter who can establish and maintain a relationship based on equality will win the race.How the relationship evolves between a recruiter and a candidate is based on the “ground rules” being laid out at the beginning.As a professional recruiter it is your job to tell your candidates what to expect from you in terms of the service. Equally important is what you expect from them. One- sided relationships seldom work for either party. If you state the “rules of engagement”, you will come across as more professional as you appear to be in control and they will put their trust in you. After all would you trust a lawyer or accountant who is vague?A common bug bear for recruiters is when you send candidates for interviews with your clients and they do not call you after the interview.In my view, if you can convince them that calling you is in their best interest, then they will. Whenever you ask candidates or temps to call you, there must be compelling reasons for them to do so, rather than for you.What to say when you interview the candidate: “As it's important for both of us that, I find the right job for you; it is vital, that you stay in touch with me at all times. I think, you are a great candidate and will be doing what I can to market you. Of course I will always ask your permission before I put you forward for a specific position and divulge your details to an employer. If an opportunity arises and I cannot get hold of you, you could miss out. Also I do not want to be putting you forward if another agency is already representing you. So you need to tell me which companies you get put forward to; that way I can spend my time finding other opportunities for you. To get maximum value out of me, you need to keep me posted, so I know what you want and what you are considering.” Alternatively ask them if you can represent them exclusively for a period of time e.g. 6 weeks. Get their authority to represent in writing!What to say when you send your candidate for an interview: “This is a great opportunity and sounds like what you are after. Please call me immediately after the interview, so we can debrief your first impressions of the role and company. That way, I can also ask the client any questions you may have and give them some meaningful feedback from you. If it is not the right job, please let me know straight away too, so I can find something else for you. If you are keen and you do not call me within the hour the client may think, you are not sure and people always prefer to hire keen people. Your interview is at 2pm; let's say you'll be out by 3pm; can you call me by 3:30pm the latest?”It's important to get a commitment from them. People are more likely to call you, if they commit to a specific time.When you need your temps to stay in touch with you: “When I get a temp job, I have 20 mins to fill it (this was the service, we provided). If I do not know whether you are available, I will call someone that is available. Twenty minutes goes quickly so I do not have time to call everyone. I would rather spend my time calling more clients to get you a temp job, so can you give me a quick call every morning to tell me, you are available and ready to go? Are you willing to do that so I can do my best to keep you in work?” When you want your temps to call you on a weekly basis while they are on assignment for you: Too many recruiters send temps to jobs and then promptly forget about them. This leaves you vulnerable as temps will opt to work for agencies that treat them better and care about them. To avoid this, you need to be speaking to your temps on a weekly basis which can be very time consuming if you have 100 temps out. So you tell them: “It is important to me that you are happy at the job, I send you to. Sometimes jobs can change when you have been there for a while, sometimes the client may ask you to undertake more duties than in the original job order. That is fine if you' are willing to do them, however sometimes the extra duties can push you into a higher pay category without you or the client knowing. We believe that you should get paid properly for the work you do which is why I would love to hear from you once a week that you are happy and that everything is as should be. If I call you, I might call you when you are really busy, so at a time that suits you, can you please give me a quick call? Preferably by Thursday morning so we can tackle any changes coming up for the following week.”You need your candidates and temps to call you, so you can give them a better service. Remember to tell them “why” and the reasons have to be for them, not you.