Hiring Wisdom: Think Again If You Aren’t Trying to Impress Candidates

If you don’t think it’s important for you to favorably impress job applicants and make sure they have a positive experience — whether you hire them or not — think again.

In 2014, there were 6.2 unemployed people for every job opening. At the end of 2015, that number was dramatically lower: 1.6 per opening.

It’s a seller’s market once again and you need to put your best foot forward for every applicant because:

If your first choice turns you down, you can make an offer to your second or even third choice
People who don’t make the cut could be or become customers or vendors or know customers or vendors and, thanks to social media, bad news about you is guaranteed to travel fast
A great way to make a favorable impression is to have a rigorous selection process that includes a thorough, hard-hitting interview. People who are not selected still feel they were treated fairly and given serious consideration when you make the job hard to get.

This was originally published on Mel Kleiman’s Humetrics blog.