What candidates want from the hiring process

Just like a real estate market, sometimes it’s a candidate market and other times it’s an employer’s market but certain basic things need to be respected. We hear concerns from candidates after interviews. And it’s not just complainers who speak out but ‘A’ players as well. Whether you offer the candidate the job or not, they will become ambassadors to your brand by how they felt they were treated. Here is some of what they want from an interviewer:

1.       A well prepared interviewer

Sometimes the candidate will tell us that it was obvious that the interviewer had not read their resume before the interview. This makes them feel unimportant. When you read the resume thoroughly you will probably spot some things that you want to focus on during the interview, thereby making it a richer experience for all parties.

2.       Your attention

They want to feel that you are there in mind and body so answering emails and the phone is distracting and takes away from the momentum. I once had a client book airline tickets while interview. Talk about wasting everyone’s time.

3.       Feedback

Good or bad, everyone wants to know their performance especially since they want to improve. Complete honesty is actually a gift. My advice to the candidate is bite your tongue and listen well. You don’t have to agree but if someone is taking the time to offer feedback, this is a form of caring. Someone who is indifferent to you will not take the time.

4.       A process that moves forward in a timely fashion

In the interview process “no news is good news” does not hold water.  The interviews must take the time that is necessary but those that drag on and seem to never finish is a source of frustration for candidates. In addition, the candidate then starts to think “if this is the interview, I can imagine what it’s like to work there”.

5.       Desired

Candidates want to feel desired. I am speaking about the ones that you want to hire. They want to be wooed, they want to be sold (not too much). I believe the employer wants the same thing too. There’s nothing wrong with throwing a compliment to a candidate that you like. Perhaps being a poker face is part of strategy but don’t let someone you really like walk away not knowing how you feel. It’s not a power struggle, it’s a delicate dance.

As the great Maya Angelou once said “People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel”

Happy selling