I cannot think of any companies who have no customers to satisfy. At least not any companies still in business. If a happy customer tells three people about a company, and an unhappy customer tells ten there is a side benefit to treating candidates with respect. What is the viral impact of a bad experience for a candidate? How many people in your industry can they have contact with? What if they are a stockholder? Great way to kill your hard-earned employer-brand.

On a side note, every company I have worked for has had some version of the ‘VIP email’ As in, ‘Mr. Big from Corporate will be in the office tomorrow. Please clean up that sty you call an office and comb your hair.’ I am sure we have all received (or sent) that one. One of my clients routinely sends out an all-office ‘VIP Candidate will be here tomorrow. Please make sure you introduce yourself and let him know what a great place XYZ Industries is.’ Guess what his offer-to-acceptance ratio is?

So few companies really graps that their applicant handling is one of the most valuable PR opportunities they will ever have. And so few recruiters seem to understand the importance of letting unsuccessful candidates know the verdict, preferring to default to no feedback means no luck. Unsuccessful candidates really appreciate the call, they are delighted, albeit disappointed initially, when you explain how and why they were not successful this time around.

Perhaps when more reviews, and bonuses, reflect ’scores’ on interview participation/feedback, and quality of hire, we’ll hear fewer comments like ‘Do I REALLY have to interview this person?’ And everyone will be on time.

He shows up for a full day of interviews, scheduled to run 9am to 4pm. No one offers him any coffee or water, no one shows him where the restrooms are, no breaks between interviews, and no lunch is offered. In fact, an interview is scheduled right through the lunch hour.

Hey, maybe they wanted to test his physical endurance.

I think they forgot the basic rule, that candidates are people too!

Ahh, but the article: G-R-E-A-T and relevant article.. I have a question that requires feedback though. To your point of ‘respect’; How do we instill a sense of urgency in hiring managers that have no sense of how to treat candidates appropriately.

By this I mean that they are fine once contacting the candidate but take forever to move to the first step? As a recruiter I sometimes dread to discuss timeline and next steps with candidates in a call after I have started engaging them (heck many times I dread the screening) because I KNOW that certain hiring managers will likely not call the candidate in the approprite timeframe I have laid out.

Success or failure can be made when setting out the process timeline: I beliebve many managers still don’t understand the shelf life of GREAT candidates despite all we do to educate them.

My end of first phone call goes like this:

‘The hiring manager is John Smith, hes a Director of sales within XYZ group. The next step is that John will be calling you over the next couple of days to drill down a little deeper, give you a lower level overview of the role and the pros and cons and find out what would make you an ideal candidate for this role, what you want in the next GREAT step in your career. It’s also your opportunity to find out if this role is good fit for you, but at this time I believe it is a great fit.’

‘After John calls you and discusses the opportunity and you both feel positive about moving forward, John would either come to meet you or have you come to our offices in XXX where you would meet John and some of his team. After that it would be a follow up call or meeting with his VP and thats the process. If succesfull at that stage we would offer you an opportunity to be part of the UGS sales organization.’

At this stage I have set in stone what should happen next… how do you recommend we actually get this to happen most of the time?

Thanks for the article and anyones input.

Eamonn

7.Navigating a ridiculous, invasive online application that does not save after each field, crashes unexpectedly, is hard to complete thoroughly, and yet is viewed as a negative if it is incomplete.’

Navigating an online process with questions that have nothing or little to do with the actual position and the markers for success.

Thank you,

William

This is a very good reminder of how to treat people, especially as a dreaded Headhunter.

Thank you
Jay

And I have two small ‘quibbles’ with what you wrote.

>Feeling like they really are the right person for the job but somehow can’t get an interview. Whether that is because of a poor resume, undeveloped communications skills, or not connecting at the right level.

I am of the opinion that companies are often blamed for the failings of the individual. I believe iit is unfair for firms to be criticized for the laziness of a potential employee for not taking the time to communicate clearly how they are a fit.

Seacond, you wrote:

‘This is not only a reflection of the corporate cultures of both big and small companies, but is made worse by third-party recruiters who send one qualified person to 12 companies and tend to generalize about them all.’

As a third party recruiter in a contingency relationship with firms, I have the dilemma of serving multiple masters who may fail to clearly communicate their needs, wants and nuances despite best efforts to obtain them. Being left to ‘guess’ at the nuances often results in generalized statements, rather than specifics.

Thus, I am of the opinion that without transparency being extended to third party recruiters, firms get what they have invested.

Again, two small quibbles in an otherwise accurate and enjoyable article.