I was on the phone with a candidate this morning to debrief with him on a phone interview he had with an internal recruiter for a sales position with a local company. The recruiter was nice enough and was clearly doing his job of prescreening for the position. The candidate’s feedback was interesting to absorb; the recruiter was late making the phone call, placed the candidate on hold twice during the interview and really didn’t seem to be paying attention during the call, but in the end scheduled a follow up interview with the hiring manager later this week.
This particular candidate is pretty sharp. He is an experienced sales professional, intuitive and pays attention to detail. He is intently focused on growing his career and being aligned with a company who is engaged, invested and involved with its employees. His comments were revealing. “This recruiter doesn’t seem to care whether I am qualified for the position; he was just trying to set the follow up interview. I think he was IMing with a buddy while we were on the phone. The first time he put me on hold I let it go, the second time I began to feel as if I were bothering him by answering his questions. I am no longer interested in the position based on my interaction with the internal recruiter.”
Every touch point that a candidate has during the interview process is a reflection of you as an employer – and as a company.
- Are the individuals involved in the process briefed on their role and understand how important it is to hire great people?
- Is everyone on time and prepared to play their part?
- Does the front desk have a schedule for each interview to hand to the candidate and does the front desk monitor the interview schedule to keep it on track?
- Do you, as a hiring manager dress appropriately on days you will interview prospective employees?
- Do you and your interview team understand the importance to focusing on the CANDIDATE during their scheduled time? No interruptions, no iPhones, no texting, no email.
- Does your internal recruiter (or HR representative) understand the position, the selection process, the follow up protocol and is this person a positive reflection of you and your department?
In order to find, attract and hire THE best talent, take a step back and look around at your company from the candidate’s perspective. Would YOU work for YOU?
- Take the time to write an interesting role description – using phrases that will attract the right individuals to your company
- Dress to impress. Everyone on your interview team should be dressed to meet your future talent – after all, you expect the candidates to dress for the interview.
- Brief your front desk on the importance of first impressions – they are your storefront to the outside world – with everyone from the Fedex courier to potential employees.
- Unless you are comfortable with a candidate texting and taking phone calls during the interview, please provide them the same courtesy.
- Listen more than you talk. The interview is your opportunity to get to know your future employee – you owe it to yourself, and your company, to make sure that you elicit relevant information – positive and otherwise. If you are talking, you aren’t listening and gathering information. Bad hires are VERY expensive.
- Research your candidate in advance. Top Talent will research you, your company and its reputation in advance. Your interview will be much more productive if you research your candidate, review their resume and prepare some focused questions about their background in advance – not 5 minutes before they show up.
- Get your story straight. Make sure that every person involved in the interview process understands your ideal profile. Debrief immediately and write down the feedback. This will make your selection process more objective and less emotional – which results in a better hiring decision.
- Agree on the follow up process – and do it! You will expect the candidate to follow up as instructed so you will need to make the same commitment.
Taking a ‘candidate’s eye view’ of your hiring process will help you create an experience that will result in better hires, better employees and a better reputation in your market.
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