Shawnee Love   •   May 10, 2018

Continuing in our theme of building a great experience for potential and future employees of your company, this week’s blog is on the various touchpoints and interactions you have with candidates. By this I mean not only the various ways to advertise and collect applications, but also all the other ways candidates may come in contact or interact with your organization.

With technology being what it is, people expect information now. Moreover, candidates can easily find out details that previously wouldn’t have been available to anyone except insiders.  And what they find out, they can share with their friends and neighbours too.  That’s why I encourage clients to adopt a “good host” mentality when it comes to interactions and touchpoints with candidates.

That means finding ways to ensure candidates have nothing but good things to say about their experience with your company, even if they don’t get hired.

So whether candidates are reaching out to you or you are contacting them, remember to show you care and they are important to you.  Basically, the Golden Rule applies.

Treat people as you wish to be treated.

DO

• Be welcoming. Smile- It shows up whether in person, over the phone, or online!
• Respond quickly.
• Be polite.
• Answer questions honestly.  If you don’t know the answer, say so.
• Follow up once you have the answer
• Engage in a conversation.
• Share the positives of the company.
• Be courteous. Say thank you.

DON’T

• Ignore or make candidates wait an unreasonable amount of time.
• Mock or criticize the candidate.
• Give false hope or false information.
• Argue.

Want to be sure your candidate interactions and touchpoints are all that they could be?  Test them!

Walk a Mile…

Option one is to pretend to be an applicant and “secret shop” your company’s process (or get someone to do it for you).

Option two is to ask candidates how they experienced your organization.  Just be sure to wait until after the decision is made or candidates will be wary of sharing the good, bad or ugly in case the truth negatively affects their chances to be hired.

Ensuring each candidate interaction leaves a good taste in the applicant’s mouth isn’t difficult.  But it does mean everyone has to be on the same page regarding what behaviours are expected when interacting with candidates.