One of the most important aspects of recruiting is the interview process. According to LinkedIn, 65% of candidates say a bad interview experience alone makes them lose interest in the job. And with the Society of Human Resource Management finding that the average cost per hire at $4,425, there are huge benefits to creating an effective recruiting and interview process. Today, our team is sharing how employers can build a seamless interview process that keeps candidates engaged from start to finish.
- Connect within 48 hours and outline your process in an engaging and welcome way
Here at M3, after the initial screening, we make a point to give an idea of what to expect next or an outline of the interview process to come. If you aren’t interested in moving forward with a candidate based on their resume, thank them for their submission and let them know you’ve moved on to other candidates.
- Conclude interviews with next steps
When finishing an interview always be sure to tell the candidate what the next steps are and how long they should expect to wait to hear from the company next. Candidates may be in the middle of several interviews, and you don’t want to lose top talent because they think you’re not interested during lulls in the interview process.
- Create interview groups and panels where appropriate
Today’s interview processes can take many forms and in collaborative team environments multiple people are often brought into the interview process. If possible, try to create group interviews. This is not only more efficient for the internal team but can also give candidates a sense of teamwork and interactions that take place on the team.
- Touchbase between interviews
According to Glassdoor, the average length of a job interview process is 23.8 days but we know from experience that executive roles can take upwards of 6-8 weeks. Touching base between interviews in a thoughtful and engaging spirit ensures that you don’t lose quality candidates to other roles that they may also be interested in applying for.
- Get to know the person as well as their qualifications
In our experience, we’ve rarely found that people remember what questions you’ve asked about their qualifications or work history. Instead, people remember how they felt during the interview process. Did they get a sense of the personalities they’d be working with? How did the culture and experience feel each step of the way? Did they get the opportunity to share beyond what’s on their resume with the interviewer(s)? Did they feel heard and considered as a priority?
- Prepare interviewers with candidate overviews
One of the top reasons candidates say they didn’t move forward with an interview process is a poor interaction with a hiring manager or managers. Preparing interviewers with candidate overviews gives them the ability to create questions ahead of time that are specifically designed for each candidate. Additionally, provide hiring managers with some interview questions and if a group is interviewing a candidate, talk ahead of time about who will ask what to present a united team to the candidate.
We know that this can feel overwhelming when you’re designing your interview process. But you’re not alone. The recruiting team here at M3 can support you by designing interview processes for candidates in any stage of their career. Whether you’re looking for a key role in your department or the next member of your executive team, we’re here to allow you to focus on your business while we focus on the personnel you need to support that business. Contact us today at hello@m3placement.com to find out how we can make a difference in recruiting top talent for your organization.
