The Hiring Process Matters
I don’t know about you, but many of the people around me are looking for a job. Some have been laid off.
Others are ready for something new. Regardless of the starting point, they will all end up in the same place: The interview process.
In my role as coach, I have had the pleasure of connecting and supporting many lovely and talented people looking for their next adventure. In previous columns, I’ve focused on the candidate and new hire experience. Now I’m going to shift gears a bit and speak to my hiring managers and HR/talent acquisition/recruiting friends. The topic: The hiring process.
You may be asking yourself, “Why the shift, Stephanie?” Well, to be honest, I am not loving what I’ve been hearing or seeing lately. I appreciate that every company has its own approach to the interview process, and I would never want to suggest “one size fits most.” Yet I would be remiss if I did not share my insights from those who are being interviewed with those who are leading these processes.
Let me start with a basic tenet of hiring: The interview and hiring process is your prospective new hire’s first impression of you and your company. It serves as their first view of your culture, your employees, your company in real time. Candidates will share their experience, good or bad, with people they know. And do not forget—those friends they’re talking to are potential candidates for roles in your organization as well.
Here are some of my interview process do’s and don’ts.
Do:
- Train your interview team: Beyond the obvious training on questions to avoid and why, make sure interviewers know key messages to convey about the company. Remember, the interview process is a time to sell candidates on your organization as much as they’re selling themselves to your company.
- Make sure interviewers are communicating with each other. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard candidates say they were asked the same interview questions by multiple leaders at the company, or, even worse, given very different direction on the key responsibilities of the role for which they are interviewing. Take time to ensure everyone on the interview team understands the job scope and key characteristics you are looking for in the job. An interview team that sends distinctly different messages makes your company seem unprepared or misaligned, which is not the first impression you want to make.
- Take time to evaluate your hiring processes for unconscious bias. This could be a whole separate column, but here are the basics: Review where you source candidates, the questions you ask, and the answers you’re looking for. All of these areas can be places where unconscious bias lives.
Example: Your organization has been hiring college students from the same couple of colleges for many years. Think about diversifying your candidate source, which could help diversify your candidate pool. - Follow up. I know, I know. Some delightful HR person told you not to share any feedback after the interview. I get it—I’ve said this many times myself. But let’s make sure we’re saying something to every candidate we interview: “Thanks for applying, but …” or “We enjoyed getting to know you, and….” If you take the time to talk to someone, take the time to let them know where they stand.
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Don’t:
- Let the hiring process linger. Friends, trying to find a job is only made more challenging when the interview process is unnecessarily protracted, sometimes taking months. Get the right people in the room, and keep it moving! Asking candidates to wait months as you go back and forth is just unfair. Being on the job hunt is tough enough—don’t make it worse by stringing people along.
- Leave the interview process to chance. Create a plan and make sure your interview team is on board. Decide who is in the mix, who is making the final decision, which questions you want to ask and who should ask those questions.
- Interview external candidates if you know you are going to hire an internal person. I understand the concept of “wanting to see what else is out there,” but let’s not waste someone’s time if the decision has already been made. If your philosophy is to look at both internal and external candidates for roles, go for it; I’m simply suggesting that you be transparent about the process and only embark on it when you’re actually going to weigh all options.
I could go on and on. Do me a favor: If you’re in a position to influence the hiring process at your organization and you believe there is work to do, please make the effort to “be the change.” These processes are important, and every potential candidate deserves a fair, effective, positive interview experience.
