How do you hire the best of the best? The answer is simple! Create a great candidate experience. To do that, put yourself in the candidate’s shoes and ask yourself why would you work for your company but not another company? Providing a great candidate experience is now an expectation of job seekers but it’s also your weapon to better competing for top talent. By making a few changes in your recruitment process and practices, it can make all the difference. Here’s four blunders that cause candidates to drop out of your hiring process and hurts your employer brand.
Poor Treatment of Candidates
The biggest blunder companies make while hiring is treating candidates poorly. According to the 2017 CandE Results, 63% of candidates say they dropped out of the hiring process because their time was disrespected during the interview. Are you leaving candidates waiting in reception? Are your hiring managers on time for scheduled interviews? Are your interviews well organized?
Apologizing to a candidate by saying your meeting went over or you got caught on an important call, tells the candidate they’re not important. If a candidate showed up late to your interview saying they got caught on the phone, I’m certain you’d question whether they’re the right fit for your company. Be on time and if for those managers who seem to be never on time, schedule a walk-by to make sure the candidate, your guest, has been looked after.
Hiring Process Is Too Long
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard about a poor candidate experience because of a lengthy hiring process. In today’s competitive market, you can’t afford to leave good candidates waiting if you want to hire the best talent. Top candidates are not a dime a dozen. They are in demand.
Figure out what is breaking down in your hiring process. Look at the last 10-20 employees your company hired. When did the individual apply? When were they hired? If it’s more than 3-4 weeks for high demand skills, dive deeper. Assess each stage of your hiring process. Identify which stage is dragging out and look for ways to shorten. Communicate changes to all stakeholders and make sure to include the benefits of these improvements to get buy-in.
Misleading or Incorrect Information
Another perfect way to put candidates off is by providing misleading or incorrect information. You find an amazing candidate, they interview with the hiring manager, everyone’s excited but you make an offer and the candidate declines. Often candidates decline because their needs were not qualified early in the process. I’ve seen some companies hold back on sharing vacation or salaries for example and then they get to the final stage and they can’t meet the candidate’s expectations.
Create a job profile with the hiring manager. Align on the mandatory skills, nice to have, key responsibilities, career progression, salary, bonus, vacation, benefits and perks. Use this tool to validate the needs of the candidate with what you need and can offer. Don’t hold back pertinent information. You’re just wasting time and your not creating a good candidate experience.
Not Responding to Qualified Candidates
Companies continue to be inconsistent in their communications during the screening and disposition process. One of the most common factors that make potential employees turn away for good is not getting a response to an application, especially when they know they’re qualified.
Respond to every application but respond with the right communication. Avoid sending non-personalized and generic emails. This will not help build a strong employer brand. Put yourself in the candidate’s shoes? Is your communication simply saying thanks but no thanks? Make your emails more personalized. Even if you have scripted emails then create multiple templates to be sent for the right situation and for the right candidate. Your emails should let candidates know what other options they have for future employment. Ask them to stay connected and send them links to your social properties to follow you. Let them know they have relevant skills for your organization and that you’d like to stay in contact. Ask them to be part of your talent community. The candidates you’re declining may not be a good fit today, but they may be a great fit tomorrow. Treat all candidates like your future talent.
Take the time to walk through your hiring process. See firsthand the experience candidates have with your hiring process and your employer brand. Conduct an audit based on best practices. Understand what you’re doing well, what you’re not doing well and what you can do better. With a little bit of time and effort, you can ADVANCE Your Brand.