Potential employers and recruiters must consider long-term market impact. The goal of each recruiter is to develop a healthy pipeline to produce the talent needed to support long-term sustainability. Each contact becomes a brand impression regardless of whether hired or not. Each of these impressions could easily be a customer or attached to someone who may become a customer.
Great talent will not play games
Everyone who has been on the job hunt is familiar with never hearing back after submitting an application or resume. How an organization represents itself and the roles they have available is crucial. Recruiting is too costly to throw out a line, see what you catch, and then see what role fits. Postings must be clear; do not try to put them in the kitchen sink with job descriptions. The average time it takes to hire is 27 days. However, top candidates are off the market in 10 days.
Improvement tips:
- Include timelines in the posting, including close dates and when interviews start.
- Make sure that postings include the rate of pay. Don’t let the recruiting process get strained by candidates who will not accept the pay rate.
- Application rates increase significantly with video postings. Candidates want to work with people more, and it adds credibility to the role and process.
Your interview process shows what’s important and how stakeholders make decisions
Interviewing can be taxing on all parties involved. Many organizations do not have a role solely focused on recruiting. Internal teams are created to meet immediate hiring needs. A timely process takes away from other productive tasks, eliminates top talent, and puts additional strain and pressure on existing team members. The process of multiple-round interviews is outdated and does not increase the result of hiring better talent. Ask questions that matter for the day-to-day responsibilities. Organizations miss the mark by over-indexing behavior-based interviews without validating actual skills.
Improvement tips:
- Respect your candidate’s time and get what you need in one or two interviews. Often, organizations that require 3-4 interviews do not trust their internal process or do not know what they want from a new team member.
- Ask direct peers and team members to assist in evaluating actual skills. After all, they know what it takes each day to be successful.
- Be clear on the next steps, and ALWAYS follow up!
Everyone is a potential customer
It is common to hear from people, “I interviewed and then never heard back.” Why would an organization not offer a potential candidate the same courtesy and follow-through as it would one of its customers? It can easily be interpreted as how the organization communicates and treats its customers and employees. A candidate today looks very different after more experience and education. Retorio.com shares that 64% of candidates will share a negative experience, and 27% will discourage others from applying. Stakeholders must remember that the pipeline is only half the battle. Talent is the other.
Improvement tips:
- Survey your candidates throughout the process and ensure results are not shared with the hiring team while hiring decisions are made.
- Ask candidates if they might be interested in future roles, especially if it is a close call. Create a distro for current open roles to keep them in the know.
- Review results from hiring, know that timelines were met, and review attrition to know who is picking the best talent and who seems to be challenged in hiring top talent.