Hey Everyone,
This is the second of my Empathy for the Seeker series. In Part 1, I took data provided by a former colleague who was on the job hunt and broke it down so we can all have a better understanding of the horrors that masquerade as many organizations’ “candidate experience”. You can read Part 1 here:
In this post, we’ll talk about what we can learn. Please enjoy!
Ben
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🧑🏫 Learning From Bad 🧑🏫
Remember two weeks ago when I said this?
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.
Well, it’s time.
This post will talk about some fundamental improvements you can make to your hiring process. Why? You will be in the top 5% of companies regarding candidate experience. Given the reality of a hyper-competitive talent market, that is not a bad place to be.
#1 Respond - And if it’s a “No,” tell them why
One of the most striking things about this candidate's experience is that almost half of all companies they applied to didn’t even bother to respond to their application.
For most of my career, I’ve been in sales. And one very common truism amongst all salespeople, particularly ones that are successful, is that they will tell unqualified prospects “No” rather than ignore them. The best salespeople will further tell unqualified prospects why they are not a good fit.
There is a simple reason why the best go through that amount of effort to tell someone “No”: you never know who those prospects know or who they might become. That unqualified start-up could get a round of funding and become your ideal customer, that unqualified buyer could be heavily influential to their company's buying process, etc.
The bottom line is that you don’t want to be perceived as unresponsive or uninterested because your reputation matters - both in selling and hiring.
#2 Be transparent and build trust early
Want to build trust between your organization and the candidate? Tell them the requirements and reality of the job as early as possible in the process.
Providing salary upfront, being honest about the available flexibility, and clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of the position all build trust. Withholding any potentially offputting information so you can “sell” a candidate later is a self-defeating proposition because fair or not, you’re perceived as hiding something.
What surprised me about our seeker’s experience was how many opportunities weren’t even close to compensation fit. Yet, the companies were perfectly content to burn their, and the candidate’s, time by being intentionally unclear about critical information.
#3 Know and communicate your process
What I’m about to say may be hard to hear, but it needs to be said: if you can’t explain your hiring process to a candidate, you are bad at managing your hiring process - which means that you are more than likely bad at managing your team.
It is easy to make excuses for a poorly defined process (I know because I’m guilty of it too), but you owe to your team, yourself, and most importantly, your candidates to get it right and set the proper expectations.
Time and time again, I’ve seen ambiguous or poorly defined hiring processes indicate deeper management issues. Thoughtlessness is a leading indicator of thoughtlessness.
You're mistaken if you think candidates don’t pick up on your mismanagement. “Pop up” interviews, constant rescheduling, and “we have to get HR approval for this role” all scream one thing, “We don’t know what we’re doing.”
Not done yet
To recap:
Respond, even if it’s a “No.”
Be transparent and build trust early.
Know and communicate your process.
The above are three relatively easy-to-understand ways in which you can create a genuinely best-in-class candidate experience. Rest assured, you can do many more things (and we’ll cover them in later posts), but for now, focus on making those three things right, and you’ll find yourself unusually popular with high-quality candidates.
As always, thank you for reading, and see you next week!