Candidate Experience: it doesn't end at "Offer Accepted" | Spelling/Grammatical errors on Resume: still a big deal in 2022?

Happy Monday everyone - hope you have a fantastic, fun and productive week ahead! In today's edition of my Weekly Newsletter:

• Candidate Experience: it doesn't end at Offer Acceptance!
• Spelling/Grammatical errors on your Resume: are they still a big deal in 2022?

Candidate Experience: it doesn't end at Offer Acceptance!

Well, you finally did it. After recruiting tirelessly to find and interview some great Candidates, you found an excellent addition to your team, you extended an offer, there was some negotiating involved, but both you and them came to an agreement and they happily accepted joining your team - congratulations!

So now that that's 100% confirmed, there's no need to be in touch until its their first day, right?

WRONG!

All that work you've been putting into creating a fantastic "Candidate Experience" up until now does not end the moment you get your Offer Letter signed! By Candidate Experience, I'm referring to how ALL Candidates felt and experienced your recruitment process from THEIR side - and especially those you decided to extend an Offer to and who have now accepted.

There's plenty of great advice out there about giving a great Candidate Experience while actively interviewing a Candidate - but there's a huge opportunity for Organizations out there AFTER a Candidate has accepted your Offer and will be joining your Team. I read some stats from a study conducted by LinkedIn where apparently only 49% of Candidates even received a phone call BEFORE starting their new role from their new Employer. This just blew my mind!

Talk about setting the stage for "Buyer's Remorse" - where they end up regretting their decision or second-guessing themselves!

Imagine - you just decided to hire someone who might very well have made a very important decision on their part, they're all excited and can't wait to join you, probably posting about it on social media and maybe telling all their friends and family about it - meanwhile at your end its....*crickets chirping". No updates or touch-points in-between, no phone calls, nothing!

Believe me when I say this too becomes part of the Candidate Experience.

Here are some things I either personally do myself on behalf of, or advise, my Clients who are Hiring Managers to do AFTER Offer Acceptance through to the "Onboarding" part of your process:

• Maintain Communication: now is not the time for radio silence. You need to ensure you or someone on your Team is responsible for maintaining communication with your new Hire. Is there something pending at your end you should be keeping them updated on? Keep them in the loop. Did you receive the paperwork they sent in for onboarding? Acknowledge you received it and let them know whats next. Are there a few more pending steps prior to their start date? Let them know about it and what comes next. Just doing these simple things and ensuring they don't feel like they jumped into some abyss is a great way to keep your new Hire engaged prior to starting.
• Team Introductions: have they met everyone on the Team yet or are there any other Teams they should be introduced to in advance? Why not setup a Video Call to make those introductions? Not only will this allow them to start building connections at your Organization before they've started, but its a great way to continue making them feel extremely welcomed.
• Social Events: have an upcoming social event before their start date? Why not invite them to join in? This would be another great way to have them mingle and get to know others they'll be working alongside in a more casual environment. Maybe the social event is on Zoom. Maybe its at some venue. Whatever it is, consider inviting them.
• Third-Party Touch Points: for any Candidates I have placed with my Clients, I do scheduled Touch Points for a period of upto one year in some cases. I do weekly touch-points during their first month of joining, bi-weekly during month 2, once during month 3 and once a quarter for the remainder of the year. This allows me to act as an intermediary and communicate/coordinate any potential issues post-onboarding to my Client which can be addressed or handled sooner rather than later. I advise getting this done through a third-party aside from yourself, because Candidates typically might feel more comfortable disclosing any possible issues or concerns with someone else especially when they are new. So your Third Party might be a Recruitment Partner or External Recruiter such as myself, it could be someone else at your Organization who has perhaps been assigned as your new Hire's mentor, or perhaps its someone on your internal Recruitment Team. Whoever it is - this is a great way to ensure your new Hire has a way of communicating any concerns at their end which they might not feel comfortable addressing to you directly because they've been getting along really well with you and don't want to disrupt that.

So whether you're in charge of this area or need to delegate it to someone else on your team or your Recruitment Partners - do it! Your Organization is making an amazing investment in a great new person who will join your Team - why not see it all the way through and make sure they know from the get-go they are valued and have made the right decision?

If you're an Organization looking to hire Tech Talent in Canada, reach out to me for more information on how I can help you find, Interview and recruit Top Candidates for your Team! Send me a message here on LinkedIn or email me at [email protected]

Spelling/Grammatical errors on your Resume: are they still a big deal in 2022?

Spelling and grammatical errors on your Resume - do people still even care about these? I mean - what's the big deal unless you're applying for a job related to writing or communications?

Look - I get it folks. Personally, I don't care much if people screw up a bit here and there on their Resume with some spelling or grammatical mistakes. If I like the professional experience I see on your Resume, I'll still probably call you. But the reality is, I do not represent the majority of the people out there with opinions about this. Here's the deal: some people won't care too much and will still call you to discuss your professional experience (such as myself) but others certainly WILL care.

If you're going to get rejected by a Recruiter or Hiring Manager - I'd rather you get rejected for something major, like not having the right skills and experience, etc.

Getting rejected because of something minor like a spelling mistake or grammatical error is just a shame - not because of the error itself, but because its something you could have easily avoided.

So: I know it might be annoying. Probably might not even make any sense why someone would reject you based on something which has nothing to do with succeeding in your field - but just get it done and ensure you've done a thorough spelling/grammar check and have someone else review it as well for things you and "spell-check" might have missed.

Have a job search related question you'd like my perspective on? Join me every week on Wednesdays at 11AM ET right here on LinkedIn for my weekly Live Stream and ask me your questions in the comments during the Stream - see you later this week!

That's all for this week folks - see you next time!

Dean Kulaweera - IT Recruiter | Director, Recruitment & Sales |?Tech Recruiters 360

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