How to Make Candidates Love Your Company
In my 28 years of owning a recruiting firm, the number one thing that frustrates me is a Terrible Candidate Experience because it is so easy to knock it out of the park.
I hear these words all the time: "Candidates would be lucky to work here!" Business owners and CEOs either say this or subconsciously believe it because of how often bad candidate experiences happen. In this candidate market, you need to have great interviewing practices when trying to grow your team.
Matt Filer and I recorded a 2-part podcast on this exact subject where we give more detail and anecdotes that back up our findings as we see small businesses interview on a daily basis. We thought it might be helpful to see a list of ways you can improve your Candidate Experience and make sure candidates love you and your organization.
Tips for the Preparation and the Interview Day
Your Interview Team - Every company we work with is different with who is making the hiring decisions. However, we want you to make sure that whoever is talking to the candidate loves working for your organization. You want to use the best people who will put on a great face to work at your company.
Let the Candidate Know What to Expect - It is already a very nerve-racking experience for the candidate. Make everything besides the interview as easy as possible. Let them know what to expect when it comes to address, parking, and who they need to talk to when they walk in the door. Most importantly, please let them know their schedule for the day with timing and who they will be speaking to. It really helps them know what to expect and feel comfortable.
When Candidate Is There, You Need to Be All There - This seems very self explanatory, and I know that. However, we hear from candidates all the time how they are waiting for 20-45 minutes in the lobby, the CEO has his phone out during the whole interview, the Hiring director takes a call during the interview. Just try to be all there because candidates want to be where they are desired.
Don't Make the Interview Too Long - This is simple but do not have a 3-hour, one one one interview. Again, you would be surprised what we see.
Tips for the Post Interview: Salary Negotiation and Offer
Salary Negotiation - When it comes to salary negotiation, our first thing we tell clients is to just be respectful. You would be surprised at how many employers try to get a deal last minute. The job is listed for $65k, and then they offer $58K after all that work. Even if the candidate accepts, they will feel disrespected and will hold it against you.
The Offer - This is my favorite difference maker. Even though we are going through or might go through a tiny recession, there is still competition for talent. When you have a candidate you want to offer, you could get your recruiter (hopefully us) or someone on your team to call and offer. However, if the CEO or Owner makes the call to a candidate and says how happy they are to make an offer out of the hundreds of candidates you talked to, that will leave a great taste in the candidate's mouth. You are dating. Make them feel as special as possible even if that seems cheesy.