Yesterday’s Advisor explored how the interview process has to change as we interview more Millennials. Today we’ll hear more from Kim Seeling Smith, the founder and CEO of Ignite Global.
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Smith has a lot of experience conducting interviews and coaching interviewers. Today we’ll take a look at Smith’s potential solutions for making sure your interviewees can easily and effectively find your jobs, go through the application process, and experience the interview.
Smith’s recommendations came during a recent BLR® webcast that was sponsored by Citrix.
The Breakdown
Online presence. Smith asks, why is online presence—company websites, LinkedIn® profiles, social media activities, and more—so important? It is because you only have one chance to make a first impression, she says, especially with Millennials. If they can’t find you online, chances are that they simply won’t apply.
Application process. Smith states that the most critical feature of your application process needs to be ease of use. “Candidates just will not apply if the application process is confusing or frustrating” says Smith. She also suggests spending the time on the job ad itself to avoid having to sift through an excess of poor quality applications. Another suggestion from Smith involves using videos to weed out applicants. Presumably, only people who are serious about the job will submit a video.
Keeping the interview process professional. Smith says that the first thing an interviewee sees when he or she goes to an interview has to be inviting, clean, and professional. She recalls an example of an interviewee who abandoned ship because an absent receptionist left a half-eaten sandwich on the greeting counter. In another example, an interviewer formed a bad initial impression by skipping to the conference room where the interview was to be held. Smith notes that other common interviewer problems include bullying the applicant to test how he or she handles stress and disagreements or contradictions among interviewers during interviews.
According to Smith, a major solution for these problems involves ensuring that the interviewers are trained on how to conduct an interview. Smith suggests the following ways to ensure that the interview process remains professional:
- Prepare the office and interview room.
- Plan the logistics of the interview.
- Brief and debrief anyone who will be involved.
- Don’t try to create pressure during the interview (unless you really know what you are doing).
- Start every interview by asking the candidate what he or she knows about the company and why this job is the next best step in his or her career.
- Finally, sell the candidate what he or she is buying. In other words, try to understand what the candidate is looking for, and sell them that.
Candidate care. Candidate care should never stop at the offer. Smith says that paying attention to how you handle candidates is really important—especially when it comes to communication. Smith says to provide honest, specific feedback in addition to using the following techniques:
- Track candidates.
- Keep in touch with candidates often.
- Ideally, the whole interview process should never take more than 2 weeks. This helps keep interested candidates from wandering away.
- Keep in mind that anyone who interviews with you over the phone or in person deserves a phone call, whether it’s to tell good news or bad news—failure to do so can result in a negative review on sites like GlassDoor®.
- Give people a reason why you say no, politely, and professionally. Smith suggests that being honest in this way can yield unexpected benefits, like declined interviewees recommending friends or reapplying for jobs that they do qualify for.
- Make sure to document factual information about why you turn down a candidate for your own protection.
- Keep your promises. If you say you will call the candidate at a certain time, make sure to do so. Breaking promises ruins employer brands.
- Once you give an offer, remain in constant contact. Have the line manager and HR tell the candidate how excited they are to have them join the team. Also, make sure to keep in touch during the notice period at regular intervals. This will help reaffirm that the candidate’s decision is the right one.
- Always remember, it’s a business decision for you, but it’s a life decision for him or her.