We’re all feeling the same thing here… candidates are different today than they were yesterday. We need to interact with them differently. We need to recognize that they are in power, moreover, we need to meet them where they are. We need new commandments. Here’s my take…
- I am the Candidate. Recruiters, sourcers, hiring managers, HR and executives, treat me with kindness and respect.
- Thou shall not derail the candidate in their journey.
- Thou shall not thwart the candidate’s desires to find the perfect match.
- Thou shall not cloud cultural transparency for candidates.
- Thou shall not spin reputation.
- Thou shall not be dishonest with candidates at any time.
- Thou shall not be disrespectful of any candidate.
- Thou shall not manage waste candidates expectations.
- Thou shall not communicate with candidates erratically.
- Thou shall not love passive candidates more than active candidates.
- Thou shall not think of candidates as numbers or metrics.
Turns out, we can learn something from The Bible after all. Who knew? That said, please challenge the aforementioned and add ones that you feel need to be added, etc. Thanks.

William is the President of RecruitingDaily. At the intersection of HR and technology, he’s a writer, speaker, advisor, consultant, investor, storyteller & teacher. He’s written over 250 HR articles, spoken at over 375 HR & recruiting conferences and he’s conducted over 1350 HR podcasts & webinars. William prides himself on being easy to find on The Internets, Google him, and connect with him via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
William serves on the Board of Advisors for Hire Wells, Worksense, Wedge, Optimal, Rolebot, Gustav, Humantic, TechScreen, altru, Brazen, Engagedly, Echovate, VibeCatch, Continu, Happie, Work4, and SmartRecruiters. He’s an active mentor with ATK LABS (Israel) and Talent Tech Labs (New York City). He was previously an advisor to Altru (sold to iCIMS Q4 2020), Hyphen (sold to Betterworks Q1 2020), Causecast (sold to America’s Charities Q3 2019), RolePoint (sold to Jobvite Q4 2018), PeopleMatter (sold to Snag Q2 2016), Good.co (sold to StepStone Q1 2016) Smarterer (sold to Pluralsight Q4 2014) and a board member of Talentegy (sold to Jobvite Q3 2020), Chequed (merged to create OutMatch Q3 2015).
William is a graduate of the University of Alabama of Birmingham with a BA in Art History. He also earned an MA in American Indian Studies from the University of Arizona and an MBA from Case Western Reserve University. William holds six distinct certifications: “Trustee Management & Development” from United Way Blueprint for Board Service, “Leadership Development” from Leadership Fort Worth, “Certificate in Nonprofit Management” from The Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations, “Trustee Management & Development” from Business Volunteers Unlimited, “SHRM – SCP Certification (Senior Certified Professional)” from SHRM and, “Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR)” from the HR Certification Institute.