5 Ways to Show Candidates That You Respect Their Time

When we talk about recruitment, we often talk about the "candidates' experience".

This expression is, in fact, one of the most important factors in attracting talent to an organization, because the definition of the candidate's experience is "how the candidates feel about your company after experiencing the hiring process", and these Candidates' feelings, whether good or bad, influence their decision to apply to your company or accept the job offer.

Therefore, a good experience of the candidate will make them feel positive about your company and may make them eager to share their experience with others, helping to build your reputation.

On the other hand, a bad experience will make the candidates lose respect for you, both as an employer and as a brand.

Here are some steps you can take to keep your candidates involved and to show them that you respect their time. You may already be one of them, but it doesn't hurt to check how long and effective the hiring process is now and make sure each candidate has a positive experience with your company.

Write clear job descriptions

Use plain and clear language when writing your job posting. List the requirements and experience required, and try to avoid adding additional non-mandatory qualifications. The longer the list of requirements, be they optional, the more discouraged the candidates will be and the risk that some of them will not apply for the position, believing that they are underqualified.

Also, structure your job description to make it easy to read. Job postings follow the same editorial rules as blog posts and articles. They are easier to read if they have subtitles or bullet points, are aligned, and do not use a small or overloaded font.

Don't forget the responsibilities. These should be included in the job advertisement and be clear to those who read it. If the role for which you are announcing has management responsibilities, make them explicit, or if you want, for example, the nurse you hire to have experience in harvesting children, mention this and do not wait until the interview stage.

Provide salary details

No matter how enthusiastic they are about the job, the salary can be a factor in changing their minds. They need to know if the job will be paid well enough to support themselves and possibly their families. If this is not the case then they are in for a rude awakening.

If you can, consider mentioning a pay range in your job description or sharing this information during initial phone screenings. In LinkedIn's Global Talent Trends 2019 report, 54% of recruitment professionals who share pay slots with candidates say this helps because it filters out those who would refuse, and 57% say it simplifies negotiations later in the process.

Increasing transparency regarding pay gaps can also help eliminate pay gaps, with 55% of those surveyed saying they provide fair pay. Candidates will appreciate the sincerity of your company, even if they eventually decide not to go any further. Or I can make recommendations if I know people with similar qualifications who would be suitable for the position.

Inform them about the recruitment procedure

A recruitment process includes all the steps that start with the job description, selection (either by phone or video interview), face-to-face interviews, assessments, checks, and all the other essentials that lead to hiring the right person.

A multi-stage interview process is not automatically seen as a negative thing by candidates. For senior roles that require experience, most people will understand the need for a more complex hiring process, but if they find out about this only after they have invested a lot of time and effort, they may feel discouraged that they did not have all the skills. information from the beginning.

Giving early information about what the hiring process will look like signals to candidates that you are an employer who appreciates and practices transparency. Some companies do this by describing the various steps involved in job descriptions or on their website.

Reduce the number of interviews

Assessing a candidate's skills, expertise, and suitability within a company is the main reason why a company conducts interviews. It is also important to create a quality interview experience that will leave the candidate motivated and inspired to succeed in future interviews and get a job.

How many interviews is the right number? Studies show that four interviews are enough to attract the best candidate.

A Google research supports this theory. The tech giant's interview process used to involve more than 10 interviews and could take up to four months.

But when the company analyzed its interview data over five years, it found that four interviews were enough to help the team assess the performance of a new employee in 86% of cases. Moreover, conducting more than four interviews resulted in a rapid decline in results.

One of the reasons behind many interviews is the fear of employers not choosing the ideal candidate. Of course, you may want to choose the most qualified person for that role, but even experienced professionals will be flawed. The advice of recruiters is not to look for too many flawless candidates - they do not exist. By prolonging the recruitment process and conducting too many interviews, you will meanwhile lose strong and valuable candidates.

Provide personalized feedback

Candidates who receive a generic rejection email or receive no response after being involved in the recruitment process, have even written a letter of intent and read about your company may feel that the time has come. and their efforts were not respected. For candidates who are in the process of getting hired, consider scheduling a phone call to send them the news, instead of sending an email.

Given that 94% of candidates want to receive feedback after an interview, sharing a few pointers may be a good way to show that you appreciate their time and that you want to help them find the right role. Of course, your team may not have the resources to call every candidate who applies but does not go through the initial stages.

In this case, you can choose to create a personal and encouraging email that will give your candidates a positive impression of your company.

When candidates feel that a company has wasted their time, they are more likely to share this unpleasant experience with their friends and acquaintances. This can make others less willing to apply, which could harm a company's employer brand.

All the more so as this will hurt a clinic or pharmacy, for example, where the main activity is caring for others, and communication and empathy play an important role.

In contrast, when companies are respectful and appreciate the time and effort involved to apply for open positions, candidates often feel more connected to the brand - even if they do not eventually get the job.

So if you haven't assessed the hiring process in a while, there's no better time than now. You may find that some milestones have been exceeded, and by re-evaluating them, you can save valuable time for both your candidates and your team.