Hey,
It’s been almost a year since I started Lying To Ourselves, so I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for subscribing, sharing, texting/emailing me, and generally engaging with my “content.”
I said I’d commit to LTO for a year before I “reevaluated the time commitment,” and, for now anyway, I’m going to keep it rolling. It’s a pretty big commitment to write something every week, but the response I get from you all and knowing that I’ve made a few hiring processes a bit less painful or helped you become better at evaluating talent makes it worth it.
Keep the feedback coming, and thank you again!
Ben
-And hey, if you like Lying to Ourselves, please share.
💼 Empathy for the Seeker 💼
Let’s check in with the job market. What does the Bureau of Labor Statistics have to say?
Wow, there are only 0.6 unemployed people for every job opening, and the current unemployment rate is 3.6%. That’s one of the lowest unemployment rates in US history.1
Given how competitive the talent market is these days, you’d think that many organizations would reevaluate their hiring practices to remove friction, improve the experience, and make themselves more competitive. Sadly, you would only be half right.
In this post, we will discuss a candidate's experiences as they look for a job in the most competitive job market since 1969.
My goal is two-fold:
Point out that many organizations haven’t adapted to the new labor market dynamic, and…
Help you realize that there are still many opportunities to provide a differentiated candidate experience and be the employer of choice because of your competition's inability to adjust to the new hiring reality.
What it’s like out there
Background and Context
A bit of a background here. I have a former employee (who I would quickly and willingly hire again) who recently went on the job hunt. This person has performed for years in sales roles but would like to move into a more product or customer success role.
Again, and this is worth repeating, this person would make a great hire. They also do not have unrealistic expectations regarding comp or work environment, and they interview very well.
Most of what you read below is a lightly edited version of what they shared with me.
The numbers
The official date the job hunt began: January 19
Date of accepted offer: May 11
Total duration: 112 days
Number of companies contacted: 99
Form rejection letters: 36 (36.4%)
Online skills assessments/Predictive Index screenings: 6 (6.1%) - I chose not to move forward with these as I find these screenings ableist and a big red flag
Interviews: 11 (11.1%)
Unresponsive: 46 (46.5%)
Nearly half of the companies they applied to didn’t even bother to respond with a form rejection. How’s that for “hiring brand?”
The interview outcomes
This candidate had 11 interviews, so roughly 1 in 10 applications. Here’s a rundown of how those went:
Salary severely below market average
Internal communication and hiring process was disorganized - repeatedly missed and rescheduled my second interview
Rejected for a candidate willing to relocate even though the position was listed as fully remote
Company changed requirements in preference for someone with a coding background (a good decision on their part)
Recruiter would not or could not disclose any real details about the position
Could not meet my personal salary requirements
No second interview, no feedback
Three total interviews - Asked my salary range, said it couldn't be met. Asked me for a number I'd like for a hiring bonus, but still never gave me an actual salary number. Moved to a bizarre text message exchange from both the recruiter and the VP about how much they wanted me - ended in me telling them to stop texting me.
Four interviews - great transparency, wonderful interview process. They went with a candidate with more industry-specific experience and gave me excellent feedback.
No second interview, no feedback
Accepted an offer with all benefits I wanted, the top end of my salary range, and fully remote work.
Two (maybe three) of these interview experiences went well. Let’s give the interviewing organizations the benefit of the doubt. Even then, less than a third of all interviews were a positive experience, and only 3% of all applications were a positive experience.
The standard behavior
Those numbers aren’t good. Sadly, they’re not surprising.
Let’s put this experience in a slightly different but no less relevant context. Pretend you own a company or founded a startup. How upset would you be if about half of your qualified sales leads weren’t contacted? Worse, what if only 3% of your leads had a positive buying experience? I can confidently answer this question; you would be livid. Like smoke coming out of your ears, people getting fired, levels of livid. And no one would blame you.
Yet, this self-defeating behavior is entirely acceptable when it comes to selling our organizations to prospective employees. Which isn't any less vital given the current labor market.
My Takeaways
While I’m pleased my friend found a job they’re thrilled with, their poor experience disheartens me, especially since there is no real reason - particularly in a highly competitive job market.
There is no excuse for any candidate - particularly one who makes it to the interview stage, to walk away with a bad impression of your organization. Of course, the flip side is that there is an opportunity for any company willing to have a more pleasurable hiring process to attract talent. If you’re able to perform a process with just a touch of empathy, you’re already in the top 3%, and in this climate, that is a tremendous advantage.
Next week is a “Good To Know,” but after that, we’ll cover some practical ways that you can apply what we learned from this job seeker’s experience.
Have a great rest of your week!
And, besides 2019, the lowest ever unemployment rate during peacetime (!)