It's All About the Money (Part 2, the Interview)

It’s All About the Money (Part 2, the Interview).

Last week I discussed the attraction phase of recruiting new people to a company, where I described how companies that have a well-thought-out Unique Value Proposition make the hiring process about more than just money.

How the interview process is handled is just as important.

Most companies view the interview process as “a necessary evil."

It’s generally focused on “sorting the wheat from the chaff," and the process is used to disqualify everyone they can.

Most of the interviews are set up to find out if they are “our kind of person," and see if “they have what it takes” to be a part of our team, and interrogate them until they uncover any flaw or resume falsehood.

Very little, if any thought is given to impressing the candidate.

Let me describe the interview process of one of my clients recently:

• We want to interview your candidate. Please have them fill out our on-line questionnaire (takes 30-60 minutes, they must have phone numbers and dates filled in for entire work history to move forward in the process).
• The system invites them to an interview (they get 1 time choice, and it’s during work hours). The candidate accepts, they get instructions on the visit.
• Client asks candidate to pay for all travel, lodging, etc., and will reimburse. Candidate asks if he can bring spouse, client says “no, not until you get an offer."
• Candidate shows up for the visit, nobody in the lobby, no directory. Hit’s zero, nobody answers. Tries a number of extensions, can’t get anyone to answer. Eventually an employee coming to work lets them in the door and finds the interviewer.
• Candidate interviews with 4 people. All 4 people ask him the same questions, so he answers all the same questions 4 times. The person who was supposed to give a plant tour had “emergency meeting," so he didn’t go on a plant tour. When asking questions about the company, nobody he interviewed with gave him a lot of detail.
• When he asked about career path, the hiring manager laughed “We are hiring you for this position. You have to prove yourself in this job before you can even start to think about more responsibility."
• When asked on how to get reimbursement, they said “check with the recruiter."
• Candidate called me right away after the interview declining wanting to move on to round 2. Said the company didn’t impress him. The company never followed up. Needless to say, this “experience” was less than impressive. The candidate felt it was a “cold interrogation”. Ironically, the client loved the candidate, but the candidate turned them down. Client replied “Dodged a bullet there I guess, right?”

No. You lost out on top talent.

Fast forward 3 weeks and I have the same candidate interview with another of my clients.

• All details arranged by the company and provided to the candidate with a detailed agenda for every interview, including names, titles and LinkedIn profiles.
• Client arranges the visit and all expenses paid for by the company and provided to the candidate. They invited spouse/significant other along as well to see the area.
• A company representative picked up the person from the airport and drops off at the meeting or hotel…and shuttles the person around.
• A welcome sign with the person’s name on it in the lobby, and a person is waiting for them to arrive and greets them by their name: “Ms Soandso is expecting you, she will be right out."
• Everyone is well-prepared, has read resume, shuts off their phones, and gives full attention to the person interviewing. They have a scorecard prepared. Each person has a pre-determined set of questions to cover different areas so it’s not everyone doing the same thing.
• They purposefully go out of their way to impress on what a great company this is. They provided a clear outline of how this person will be mentored and grow in their career, and if possible, meet the mentor. Their future career path is outlined, with their success of course. All of the benefits, both tangible and intangible are clearly outlined.
• Everyone tells their story of why they love working there.
• They provide dinner gift certificate, flowers, or cookies for the spouse/significant other to make their stay more comfortable. They provide resources to learn about the area is provided, along with house hunting information. The company requests that the candidate sends copies of the receipts for any expenses and the company fills out expense report for him and sends check.
• Company representative takes person back to airport, hotel, or house hunting. The peopleINTERVIEWING send thank-you notes TO the candidate.
• This was someone they wanted to hire, the hiring manager followed up with the candidate to see if they are interested. The hiring team keeps in touch every 1-2 days throughout the offer making process. They move swiftly to keep them engaged.

They proceeded to an offer, which was presented in a very detailed way, and they hired the person.

Trust me, this offer was accepted before it was presented, because the candidate couldn’t contain their excitement.

Again, it takes work, and willful purpose. Everyone that interviews there is impressed and wants to work there.

THIS is the type of process that makes it not all about the money.

So if you want it to be about something other than the money at your company….now you know how to move in that direction.

Happy Hunting!

Ed Keil

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ed Keil is “The Plastics Recruiter?”. Ed’s company employs 10 recruiters and researchers who have placed thousands of people in over 600 of the best plastics companies in the industry. Ed posts daily on Linkedin, Facebook, and Instagram, and is a great resource for “everything recruiting”. Ed helps his clients Attract, Land, and Retain the best and the brightest in the industry. He would love it if you’d (follow him and give feedback on his posts.