When the labor market is weak and job-seekers are desperate for work, overwhelmed recruiters sometimes default to treating applicants like cattle – an undifferentiated mass of mostly unqualified individuals firing off resumes wherever they can.

But an unhappy job applicant is unlikely to become a happy customer of your company's goods or services, says Gerry Crispin, co-founder of human-resources consulting firm CareerXroads and one of the forces behind the Talent Board, a group of HR experts that last year created the Candidate...