As a recruiter, one of the most important aspects of the job is keeping candidates interested in the opportunity. Every so often, a candidate goes dark – all communication stops out of the blue and when this happens, it feels as if all progress that has been made has been lost.

What can be done on the recruitment end to alleviate the stress that comes when a candidate goes cold?

Emphasize the importance of communication and set deadlines for response time. It is important to begin the relationship through various methods of communication; if the candidate does go dark, a call to “check up” is routine rather than desperate. While establishing the relationship, understand how active the candidate is in their search and their timeline to transition into a new opportunity.

Gain their respect and trust. Guide the candidate as an advisor in their search, helping steer them in a direction you believe to be the best move for their future. A candidate is far less inclined to go dark if they trust who they are talking to and have faith in the system.

Should you execute these tips, but to no avail, run into a candidate where all communication has stopped, you must then evaluate if the candidate is worth the time. Should you change gears and move on to a candidate that would be more than eager to be given the opportunity? You may begin to spend more time trying to connect with a lost connection rather than building a relationship with a zealous one.

Confidence within the workplace is key to a successful career, and a portion of such confidence is the power that comes with knowing ones true value. Social interactions, energy and attitude play a major part in how people interact with one another in the workplace. Positive interactions are driven by value-led thoughts.

Believing that you have what it takes to make a powerful impact in your role and not accepting less than what is deserved solidifies the understanding of your self-worth. Have the confidence to say what you want because you know it is earned but also, have the humility to realize unrealistic expectations.

Evaluate who you are and who you want to be, while celebrating your accomplishments. Prioritizing your commitments and personally valuing who you are will translate into value in any situation.

If you ask people around you to define leadership, chances are there will be a large variety of answers. Words like coach, power and respect are often riddles in the responses but the same general tone to describe leadership is someone with influence.

Oftentimes though, people mistake leaders for some in high ranking positions when leaders can be found even in the most entry-level positions. The key is fostering those early leadership skills to support a possible rise in position status within the company.

The most fundamental foundation to any strong leader is trust. When times get tough, it is important that employees have trust in their leader to be the calm in the storm. Establishing an environment that allows for vulnerability fosters the ability for employees to think independently with the notion that failure is okay and encourages bridging the gap between the executives and the team they manage.

Communication goes hand-in-hand with trust. Employees need to trust that they can communicate with their leader. Setting forth a pragmatic point of view will challenge employees to think about how they can improve on mistakes made and enable them to creatively work to find solutions in the future. Disclosing noncritical company information, both successes and failures, provides employees with a sense of belonging as they begin to understand their role through both a micro and macro view of the company.