3 Ways Your Recruitment Process Is Costing You Great Candidates

Between low unemployment rates and the growing shortage of desired skills available in the labor market, employers must work harder than ever to fill their open seats. As CareerBuilder uncovered in their recent Midyear Job Forecast, 63% of employers in the U.S. are planning to hire full-time workers during the second half of 2018. While companies are using perks like unlimited PTO, sign-on bonuses, and the flexibility to work remotely to attract candidates, a critical, and often overlooked, piece of the equation is having a successful recruitment process in place. 

While recruiters and hiring managers are looking to be wooed by the candidate, let’s not forget this is a two-way street and the candidate also wants to be swept off their feet. If their experience is negative, they will be quick to voice their opinion. To highlight this point, of the 60% of candidates that reported having a poor candidate experience, 72% shared their story online via review sites like Glassdoor.

So what does this mean for your company? From your very first email to the initial phone screen to the moment you extend an official offer, each time you interact with a candidate, your actions can directly impact the company’s brand reputation and future recruitment efforts. Steer clear of the following mistakes that often cause employers to lose out on great talent.

Neglecting to Prepare for an Interview

Translation: apathy. At least in the candidate’s mind. While circumstances outside your realm of control may arise every now and then, the other 99% of the time you should be punctual and prepared.  Don’t wait until you’re sitting across from the individual to read over their resume, throwing out some painfully unspecific interview questions just to keep the crickets from chirping. The candidate invested their time – most likely away from their current job – to come and meet with you. They should leave the interview feeling like their time was respected. It’s all about making a powerful first impression, building brand equity, and demonstrating the value your company places in its current and future employees.

Time = Your Arch-Nemesis

Having a lengthy, drawn-out hiring process in a highly competitive marketplace is like finding a briefcase full of money and then handing it (willingly) over to someone else. Identifying and engaging talent is a feat in itself, and the last thing you want to do is twiddle your thumbs while a candidate is coaxed elsewhere. When you have a long recruitment process or delay extending an offer because you want to see what else is out there, you are basically telling the candidate you’re not that interested. That’s no way to court someone.

Make your recruitment process as efficient as possible by cutting out unnecessary fluff, such as multiple screening assessments or 5 rounds of interviews. Shortening your time to fill will not only improve your success rate with candidates, but it will also put bodies in your open seats quicker, which can keep employee morale high and increase your bottom line. No one wants to be strung along or treated as if their candidacy is second-rate and insignificant. If you do run into an unexpected, out-of-the-ordinary delay during the recruitment process, be as transparent as possible with the candidate and make sure to continually communicate the company’s sincere interest to keep them engaged.

Winning over the Candidate

As a recruiter, it’s easy to get caught up in your assessment of the candidate and forget to sell your opportunity. While evaluating a candidate’s experience, skills, and personality is a key part of the interview process, you need to also create a compelling case for why that individual should work for your organization. In addition to setting realistic expectations for what their day-to-day will look like, talk about the company’s culture and values. Paint an appetizing picture of their growth potential or clue them in on the company’s upcoming expansion plans – they should feel excited about the prospect of joining your team when they walk out the door.

Without a strong and effective recruitment process in place, you run the risk of losing candidates to competitors. From a long-term perspective, if you’re not building a robust and consistent pipeline of talent, it could negatively impact company growth both internally and externally.