Employers: 4 ways your hiring process is killing your candidate experience (and how to fix it)
It’s a little hard to imagine that after everything we’ve gone through lately, there are still companies who are trying to attract a 2023 candidate using a 2003 process. Whether it’s a lack of awareness or adversity to change, if you’re not prioritizing your candidate experience right now, attracting the talent you need will only get harder as your competition continues to innovate.
To help you gain clarity on the most eye-roll-worthy aspects of the hiring process, I compiled a shortlist of 4 common pain points that my clients (job seekers) lament about most often, along with a few solutions and best practices to help you course-correct. Implementing these changes will not only increase the volume of your candidate pool…they’ll also improve your business continuity, internal equity, and employer brand. So, let’s go:
Stop requiring cover letters
Not only do candidates hate writing these, but come on… even the title is outdated! Nothing is being printed and placed on the cover of anything anymore, so why do we still ask for them? I’ve certainly known a few hiring managers who loved to read these and who used them to decide their shortlist, but the truth of it is – not everyone knows how to write these, or is a native English speaker, or feels comfortable sharing more personal details about their backstory to stand out and make a compelling case for why they’re the best fit. Because of this, I’ve seen hiring managers pass over super qualified candidates for frivolous reasons and move forward with others based solely on their own implicit biases. And this is the problem. (Not to mention, requiring cover letters usually impedes someone’s ability to apply quickly, and anything that delays your hiring process is no bueno.)
Try this: Instead of simply “not requiring” cover letters in the application – tell candidates you don’t want them – and communicate that in the job posting. For example, in your posting you could state: “In lieu of a cover letter, please only submit your resume, and if the team feels your background is a match, we will follow-up with a few specific questions.” This not only removes a possible delay for the candidate, it lends to a more equitable hiring process because everyone who moves forward will be screened against the same initial questions. Pro tip: Ignore the fluffy stuff. Ask candidates to answer real questions - the ones that relate to their ability to do well in the role (i.e., first-round interview questions the manager would normally ask to screen people in or out). Unpopular opinion: Don’t waste people’s time asking them to appeal to your ego with questions like, “So why [company name]?” There are a million possible reasons - all of which are valid and none of which make them more qualified. Equitable hiring means abandoning your ego and focusing on someone’s skills, experience, and ability to slay the role.
Streamline your application process
When was the last time you applied to something through your own applicant tracking system (ATS)? It’s important for you to understand what hoops you’re asking people to jump through here, so I encourage you to grab a notepad, get comfy, and click that Apply button. When going through, do you see anything that should be changed? Are you asking people to submit a cover letter even though you know you don’t read them? Are you asking them to attach a resume AND ALSO asking them to manually fill in 100 different fields related to content that should already on the resume? THESE are the things that drive candidates crazy and ruin their impression of your company. I mean… if you care so little about their time and experience as a candidate, what should they expect as an employee?
Try this: Throw on your candidate hat and walk through your ATS, while making a list of “can this be changed?” questions. Partner with your HR or Talent Acquisition team to ask if these are necessary. Pro tip: Only ask candidates for the most necessary information in order to get them into your candidate pool. When you move your top candidates through to the next phase, you can always launch them the second half of the application and collect the more cumbersome details required for hire. This also means you’re not wasting the time of people who aren’t even moving forward for this role. [When I did this at a previous company, our drop rate diminished, and our candidates regularly told us how much they appreciated a quick, common-sense, and easy application process.]
Shorten your interview process
If you need a candidate to interview with 8 different people in your organization in order to land the plane, all it does is make you look indecisive. It’s also a red flag to candidates that, if hired, gaining consensus on anything is going to be a drawn-out nightmare. Furthermore, this is not the market to be dragging out an interview process – you’ll lose strong candidates. I’m not suggesting you rush through your due diligence, but I am suggesting you trim the fat where you can.
Try this: Stop including all of your “meet-and-greet” folks. This process is for your top 3-4 “decision makers" only. How to define a decision maker: These are the people who, if they told you to pass on a candidate - you’d pass. Period.
“But they’ll be working so closely with these other people – I want to know they’ll mesh well…”
I understand, but from experience, this will only prolong your process, and waste a bunch of people’s time since you don’t actually consider them decision makers, and they’ll realize that when you disregard their feedback (meaning they probably won’t want to interview for you again). So …ask yourself… do you care enough about their interpersonal chemistry with a new hire to label them a decision maker? If yes, great. If not, they need to trust that you’re making the right decision for your team (i.e., doing your job as a manager). Pro tip: Get your decision makers together in advance of posting the role so you can align on the candidate profile and ensure everyone is on the same page before candidates are pulled into process. If you really want your meet-and-greeters to have some face-time, organize your candidate to have lunch in between their interviews and invite the meet-and-greeters. This can also be done with a virtual coffee break in between interviews – just remind everyone, it’s intended to be casual.
Lead from the front with pay transparency.
To be blunt, a lot of candidates just won’t apply anymore unless there is a reasonable range posted in the job description. (Posting something ridiculous like “$49,000 - $130,000” is going to hurt you more than it helps – because really?) With California, New York, Rhode Island, Washington, and many others rolling out new pay transparency laws in 2023, the time is now to get your compensation narrative, policies, and best practices outlined. This is also a time to lean into some solid change management trainings if you haven’t already.
Try this: Don’t just start adding salaries in job postings overnight. Analyze your compensation bands, audit your internal equity to ensure there aren’t any outliers, communicate the changes to your employees, and then start posting ranges. If management is worried about an onslaught of employee concerns, remind them that with any new policy or process, there will be a period of adjustment. Transparency and communication are the name of the game. For example, if an employee sees a new posting with a range and is not sure why they “make less and are in the same job as what’s posted,” it’s imperative you take the time to listen to them and share (for example) that because they came in without a degree, and now the role requires a degree, the base salary needs to be commensurate with that credentialing. Pro tip: When you communicate this change is going to occur, create a repository (i.e., via SharePoint, Google docs, etc.) for feedback along with some FAQs to get ahead of some questions you know will come up. This way, if people have concerns, they can submit them to HR through an online form and HR can triage responses accordingly.
If you’re an employer in need of some help overhauling your process to create a more positive candidate experience, feel free to schedule a brief intro call to hear how JOBTALK can help.