From the moment a candidate applies to the first day on the job, they are forming opinions about you, as an employer—just as we should be paying attention to every interaction with the candidate up until the day of hire, and thereafter, as each interaction supplies us with clues about the candidate and how they may be as an employee.

In order to attract top talent to your door, be sure you put your best foot forward in ensuring your candidates have a positive experience. One of the ways to do that is to ensure the recruitment process progresses vigorously.

This starts with the first outreach to the candidate after receiving their application, and even before that, if your recruiting team is sourcing or cold- calling potential talent.

  • How long did it take someone to respond to their application, whether to let them know you received it (and this is beyond the automated receipt notification), or to invite them for an interview? What does this matter?

Interviewing a large number of candidates weekly, for a wide variety of businesses and positions, we hear candidates having 4–5 interviews scheduled per week. Candidates still have lots of choices. Employers who dawdle and delay outreach to an applicant will likely lose the opportunity to hire that candidate. Not surprisingly, it is the best candidates who land a position the quickest, which is your ideal candidate.

Tips to ensure your recruiting process gets you the results you want:

  • Keep your recruiting timeline (your recruiting SLA, service level agreement) tight. What is your throughput to hire time from the time someone applies? Take a look at that. When scheduling interviews, both ensure that you schedule them soon after receiving the application, and be considerate of the candidate’s scheduling challenges. Candidates are often trying to interview while working around their current job’s work schedule. Offering times outside of the work schedule, such as after 5pm, at 7am or earlier, or the weekends, is helpful, so that candidate’s can interview without taking time off. This says a lot about the employer, in a positive way.
  • Ensure you communicate with candidates continuously throughout the process.
  • Ensure you make the let-down calls after filling the position, so candidates know where they stand.

This may all seem like common sense, but I see employers not contacting applicants for the first three weeks after a job posting, and then calling them one day, three times, to ask if they can interview that afternoon. This does not give anyone time to properly prepare for an interview, nor does it show that you respect the applicant’s time.

I hear from candidates weekly who complain about applying to a position and hearing nothing back. Hearing back weeks later can give the impression that the employer is unresponsive and certainly reduces the candidate’s interest. Candidates figure that the employer either already found someone to fill the position, or they don’t have a sense of urgency to fill it. Regardless, candidates will shift their focus to another employer who is more responsive.

I hear candidates who interviewed days ago, heard nothing back, so they took a job elsewhere, even though they were really the number one candidate from the employer’s perspective. If a candidate is your number one pick, following up with each candidate interviewed immediately after the interview allows you to assess whether their interest increased or waned as a result of the first interview.

It is a critical juncture and one where you can also take the opportunity to share your continued interest in the candidate and your expected next steps with them.

Sounds basic, and it is. Take these tips and apply them to your recruiting process, and practice, to get you the hiring results you need.

These practices will also help you develop a positive reputation with the local labor market, which, in turn, will help you attract top talent to your door.

Debra J. Parent, PHR, SHRM-CP, CHHR
Katlyn Almeida, RDH, Senior Recruiter
rightfitrecruiting@comcast.net,
(508) 884-6798
https://rightfitrecruitingservices.com/
Or connect with Deb via LinkedIn –
https://www.linkedin.com/company/djp-right-fit-recruiting-llc/about/