In almost all of my posts related to recruitment, I have mentioned how important it is to put up your best front to the candidate as well. This post is about reinforcing this fact.
Right from the time of your first contact with the candidate, he or she is judging and evaluating you & your organisation too. For now, mostly you, since you are being the face of the organisation. It is of utmost importance to remember all along that the best talent is also smart & careful. If I am good at my job, I will not compromise on the kind of Organisation that I want to be associated with. And the job role, compensation, perks etc all apart, I want to work with good trustworthy people. If a recruiter can remember this through out, he or she will know what behaviours need to be displayed & how exactly to go about the whole process. We are at our convincing best when we really believe in something. That means, we first need to acknowledge and understand that while we are assessing the candidates fitment to our requirement, the candidate is also assessing us & the Organisation.
Let us look at a few things that if we get right, we have most certainly marketed ourselves well -
1. Be polite, treat the candidate with respect, however junior the position be. Provide all necessary information & answer all the questions the candidate may have. This will help the candidate trust you & create a positive first impression.
2. All through out, keep in touch with the candidate informing him about the progress on his candidature. This will show that you value the candidate & are serious about the whole process.
3. Gather all possible information about the candidate & pass all or the relevant one to the interviewers.
4. Encourage the candidate to go through your website & have a clear understanding about the Organisation and its business. Let that pride show when you speak about the Organisation with the candidate. This will mean that you wish to be fair & transparent in all your associations.
5. Ensure the candidate receives the interview call on time. For a face to face interview, ensure the candidate is attended to as soon as he arrives. Inform all people involved in advance & the front office to expect him or her at the pre-decided time. This will show how organised things are & that people know him or her even before he or she arrived.
6. It is a good idea to ask the candidate to arrive say 15 minutes prior to the interview, so that you can get all the necessary forms filled & still start the interview on time. This will reflect on your values of punctuality & detail orientation.
7. Even before that, make sure the candidate has received your confirmation of interview email along with the map/instructions to reach your office. This is a display of organised behaviour & seriousness of the recruitment process.
8. Right after the interview, get back to the candidate about the further steps & instruct accordingly. Most importantly, communicate the feedback, positive or negative. If you deal with too many candidates and find this difficult, let the candidate know that you may take time to respond in case of a no.
Interviewing -
The interview, whether telephonic or personal is the most crucial part of the hiring process. We fail to notice that many a times, candidates come out of the interview feeling what a stupid interview !! and there go all our efforts in drain. As recruiters, we may go one step ahead & brief the interviewers before the interview. The should understand the must haves & good to haves of the requirement along with the detailed job description. It is absolutely necessary for the interviewers to go through the candidate's profile thoroughly before they begin the interview. Reading it in front of the candidate is a bad idea !! (though most interviewers think it is ok to do it)
I am listing a few things which if an interviewer can keep in mind, will lead to a good interview experience -
1. Make a mental note of the questions to be asked, directly related to the role. Pausing too long before asking a question or over explaining the question shows indecisiveness. Walk in confidently & introduce yourself. Mention that you are happy to be considering the possibility of a professional association with the candidate.
2. Begin with simple questions & let the candidate settle & be comfortable. Keep the interview conversational. If the candidate is not able to answer or has answered it wrong, according to you, leave it at that. Do not correct or preach.
3. Go in with an open mind & be objective. Do not let his or her appearance affect your impression too much. Maintain a balance between being friendly & professional.
4. Understand that there are questions with yes or no answers & there are questions whose answers are subject to perspectives. be ready to agree to disagree. Avoid arguments & steer the conversation in the right direction.
5. Evaluate thought process, attitude, ability to comprehend, depth of thoughts or ideas, look at the passion etc and not just right or wrong answers.
6. Be polite & respectful. The fact that you are interviewing me obviously means you have knowledge & experience. There is no need to reinforce that fact with behaviour or attitude.
7. Be very careful with facial expressions. Do not give away even if you think what he or she is saying is nonsense.
8. Make sure that the candidate has gotten a very positive feeling about you and the organisation and it stays that way even if he or she is rejected.
9. Always ask the candidate if he or she has any questions for you. End the interview on a positive note.
10. Do not begin discussing how it went as soon as he or she leaves, take some time to think it through.
I have attended a few interviews myself & I cannot begin to describe what a terrible feeling it is to meet people who have the answers that they want to hear already engraved in their heads & refuse to listen to anything else. This can be a major put off for most candidates and make them leave feeling sorry for the Organisation.
I hope I have made my point about this two way process of recruitment, feel free to express your views or experiences about the same.
