When Candidates Are Interviewing You

So many teams are facing mounting workloads while also experiencing challenges in hiring. We walk a fine line between getting all our work done and paying proper attention to the hiring process, which we know is vital to getting some relief from that growing mountain of work. The tension is real! But giving ourselves the best possible chance of making a successful hire requires us to consider the candidate's experience.

Just as we are interviewing candidates, they are also interviewing us! In a market where jobs are plentiful, candidates carefully consider which employers treat their teams with care and respect, and they make that assessment primarily based on how you handle your interview process.

Three Important Considerations:

1. How are you communicating with candidates? Are you making a personal connection through warm and friendly communication, or are you sending email templates that sound cold and formal? Do you provide candidates with helpful information like which entrance to use when they arrive for their interview and who to ask for, or are you just sending them an email with the address? Is the offer presented verbally via phone or in person to show your enthusiasm about having them on the team, or are you sending it via email? All the little details inform the candidate about how you communicate as a company, how you care for people, how organized you are, and how you will treat them if they come on board.
2. How do you handle the interview? Does the front office staff know to look for and greet them, or do they have to explain why they are there? Was the interview room ready with bottled water, or did you have to clear off papers left from a previous meeting and scramble to make a spot for them? Did the interview team arrive having reviewed the resume and other notes, or are they looking at the resume for the first time as they sit in the room? Are interview questions prepared in advance, thoughtful, and related to the position, or is the interview a rambling conversation without structure or a clear sense of direction? How you handle the interview indicates how seriously you take the hiring process. A well-organized interview tells the candidate that you take team building seriously. And that if they get an offer, it's obvious you've carefully evaluated they are a good fit rather than simply hiring them out of desperation.
3. Do you keep your commitments? If you say we'll update you by Friday, do you keep that commitment? If you tell the candidate that the VP of Sales is part of the interview team, does she show up, or do you have to tell the candidate that she got pulled into a client meeting? If the interview is scheduled for 9 a.m., is the interview team ready when the candidate arrives? If the offer letter is expected on Friday morning, do you ensure it comes before noon? Following through on your commitments tells the candidate you respect them and mean what you say. If hired on the team, they can expect leadership to follow through on what they promise.

Sometimes, it's easy to forget the small details that add up throughout the candidate's experience with your company. Suppose you've got a great candidate, and they have three offers, one of them being yours. Did how you treated them during the interview make your company their first choice? Take steps to make sure the answer is an easy YES!

"Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth." (1 John 3:18)