Hiring can be a stressful and tedious process as you search for a qualified candidate that will fit your company’s culture and add to your current team dynamic. This is an important decision that will affect everyone in your office and the overall success of your organization. With that in mind, it can be easy to forget the human aspect of hiring, that you are asking people to halt their lives for a small chance that you will hire them. It is essential to do this with respect and tact to guarantee a great candidate and also ensure that your company does not garner a poor reputation.
Here are four very common, easily fixable, reasons you are losing strong candidates:
4. A Poorly Thought Out Posting
Your job post is your first impression to job seekers, and the tone of your post will dictate what type of people apply. While you may be looking for particular criteria, keep in mind with very narrowed expectations you may be losing the opportunity to find dynamic candidates that can pull from different forms of past work experience.
Your posting should also accurately represent the job. While it is tempting to embellish the desirable tasks and downplay the unappealing aspects of a position, you have to do this carefully. Don’t promise a fun, exciting job if that is not the truth or what their day will consist of. You will end up with a dissatisfied employee that will be looking to leave at the first chance. By representing your organization and the position accurately you will find the right fit.
3. Poor Interview
Job Seekers spend hours preparing and stressing over a job interview. They are determined to impress you. You may be very busy but to come to an interview unprepared is disrespectful and will leave a poor impression with a potential candidate. What does your lack of readiness say about as a manager? What does it say about your organization?
Take a little time to think through what you are looking for and create questions that will help you determine if the candidate is right. Unprepared employers end up talking more about the company than learning about the candidate and then wonder why they didn’t find the right fit for their organization.
Don’t forget to take a quick look at the applicant’s resume again before the interview. You expect them to research your organization and come prepared to talk about the position, the least you can do is refresh yourself on who you are interviewing. This is simple but leaves a good impression of you as a manager and interviewer.
2. Communication
Just like with a job post, you need to be clear about what you are looking for but also what you are offering. While you may feel uncomfortable talking pay and benefits, this is the job seekers right to know and will move on to other opportunities if you are unclear or unwilling to discuss these important topics.
Another common communication faux pas is poor after-interview etiquette. After you have interviewed candidates, it is disrespectful not to reach out to them at all. Whether you are hiring them or not, it is essential to let them know. This will allow you to keep a working relationship with this potential hire if you are looking in the future or your first choice falls through.
1. Taking Too Long
Hands down, the #1 reason you will lose a great candidate is that you took too long to decide to hire them. While it can be hard to make the final call, if you wait too long to let someone know, or make that decision, your best candidates WILL be gone. Most job seekers are not in a position to wait two months while you continue interviewing to ensure they are the very best choice. No one is absolutely perfect, but great candidates are the ones that can fit with your organization’s culture and have the skills to adapt and grow into a position, don’t let them slip through your fingers due to indecision or fear.
