4 Things Job Candidates Expect from Your Hiring Process

Sharon Mak All, HR & Recruiting Advice, Management Best Practices Leave a Comment

Image courtesy of pixabay.com

Image courtesy of pixabay.com

Think the job market primarily favors employers? Think again. These days the job market is far more candidate-centric than it ever has been. (This is not just hearsay; about 90 percent of recruiters believe this to be true.) While no employer likes this idea, that doesn’t stop it from being valid and affecting your hiring process and the sort of employees your organization ends up with.

What type of hiring process does your company offer? Is it getting you the top-talent employees you need? If not then there’s a good chance it’s not meeting the expectations of the high-quality job candidates you’d love to hire. Not to worry, though — a few simple tweaks can transform even the most unappealing hiring process.

4 Things Job Candidates Expect from Your Hiring Process

No two job candidates are exactly the same; each one has different expectations of your hiring process. Still, there are a few things that all candidates expect. They include:

#1 – Honesty – When you interview prospective employees, do you let them know how long the hiring process is going to take? Do you tell them that you chose not to hire them as soon as you know that’s the case? Are you totally honest about the demands of each specific position? If you can’t answer “yes” to all these questions, consider making your hiring process more transparent. After all, candidates expect no less than complete honesty. Don’t you?

#2 – Convenience – If there’s anything a job seeker expects from your hiring process, it’s convenience that’s often afforded by advanced technology. Michele Elner said, “Retail marketers have set the bar really high: As consumers, we expect convenient, extremely personalized interactions with companies. Those expectations are becoming the norm in job searches, too. Innovative HR technologies like video interviewing offer the means to engage candidates in more personal ways while also treating them to convenience and timeliness in your hiring process.” In what ways is your company’s hiring process convenient for potential employees?

#3 – Freedom to ask questions – Think back to the last interview you conducted. How many questions did the job candidate ask you? If the number is scant, your hiring process is in trouble. Today’s job seeker expects to be free to ask a potential employer a wide variety of questions. It’s wise for employers to create interview atmospheres that are conducive to comfortable, two-way conversations.

#4 – Follow-through – Employers who tell job candidates that they will email them in 24 hours and then don’t, send a signal that their companies are bad with follow-through. This is the last thing you want to convey to a potential employee. Candidates expect a high level of follow-through throughout any hiring process. This is one area no employer can afford to slack off in.

Does your company’s hiring process provide full disclosure about the nature of a job? Is it convenient? Does it afford candidates the opportunity to ask questions? Does it follow through on what it promises? If so, you probably have your pick of the best job candidates. If not, you have some work to do.

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