What Candidates expect from the Hiring Process?

November 29, 2018
 I 
Uncategorized

We focus a lot of our attention on what the company or hiring manager is focused on but this week we are focusing on the candidate and what they expect during the hiring process. As hiring managers, you are trying to stay focused on screening top candidates that will fit your organization from a skills and cultural basis. The question is are you investing time into what the experience is like for the applicants as well? Madison Professional Group knows if you are not evaluating this you could be unknowingly sending the wrong message and thus harming your employee brand as well as future candidates.

The following are things to keep in mind as to what candidates expect:

Candidates want to know what you want

As candidates have their first contact with a company, whether it is through a job ad, company career site, the expectations should be clear and thorough as possible. When you use words that are cryptic, or vague job descriptions, it does not give the candidate a clear picture and it sends a message of, “Maybe this isn’t the job for me.” It is important to have a clear theme throughout the hiring process. From when and how to communicate, to initial expectations, consistent transparency saves on time.

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Candidates want Communication

Madison Professional knows that communication is very important. Unfortunately, many times the candidates are left in the dark, which in turn causes the company to miss out on great candidates. Therefore, it is important to be quick with your communication with the candidates and let them know where they stand. If the news is bad it is important to communicate that as well because it allows them to move on. As the company you need to keep in mind that social media is a driving factor in so much of today’s brand awareness and companies can mitigate negative feedback by being prompt, upfront, and honest in their assessments of job candidates.

If the interview process is going to require 4 or 5 rounds of interviews, tell your applicants right up front so they are prepared and have expectations set.

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Time Matters

The hiring process is taking longer and longer. Recruiters and hiring managers are adding interview rounds to be sure they are hiring candidates that are the right fit. It is important that even if the candidate does not get the role, they need to leave feeling that their time mattered. It is important to forge a professional relationship with the candidate, connect on LinkedIn, give them constructive feedback. If they might be a fit later down the road let them know that they should try again after they do the following steps (i.e. licenses, experience, etc). All of this will tie into the message you are sending to the candidate and proper branding of your company. You want to leave as positive of footprint on the candidate as possible.

They Want an Efficient Process

This ties back to our first advice on have a smooth and efficient process in place. The first steps a potential candidate takes in joining a company are usually on the website or career portal. These tools should work flawlessly as they are a candidates first interaction with the company. Poorly run and/or inefficient software can dissuade job seekers from applying.  If your site requires them to create an account and fill in fifty prompts, use only a certain web browser etc. then you probably need to explore your options and update your system.

It might be a good time to update your hiring lifecycle from start to finish from the applicant’s perspective. This will allow you to smooth out any issues that you see pop up during the process that might apprehend them from being submitted.

It is important to remember that if your hiring process is not in order then the expectation when you have these applicants become candidates and then hopefully employees, they will see the company has a strong acquisition foundation and they become your talented management strategy. By actively incorporating these items from the beginning you set the stage for a successful partnership, right from the start.

Interested in outsourcing hiring to local experts?

Give Madison Professional Group a call. Our top priority is “creating connections that last”. In doing that we deliver exceptional job candidates, not just medium candidates who may have the skills. If you are ready to take advantage of the services, our team can office then reach out to us today!

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