5 Tips To Help Your Company Stand Out When Hiring Employees

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Quick preview of what’s coming below — the picture shown here is not how you want your applicants to react when applying for a position with your company!

The labor market is no longer flooded with people looking for any type of job they can find. For employers and HR folks charged with recruiting, the landscape is changing. Posting open jobs and forcing applicants to jump through hoops to simply be considered for those jobs no longer works the way it did in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

A big part of what’s changing is the expectation applicants have about how they should be treated when applying for work with an organization. The ability to apply online is a given at this point, but how can your company look different and have a more positive brand in the hiring marketplace? Below are 5 things any size organization can (and should) do to compete for great talent:

Be honest about your workplace

There’s nothing wrong with emphasizing the strengths of your company or the job you’re trying to fill. At the same time, don’t paint an unrealistic picture. Applicants appreciate honesty and expect that not everything is perfect with any job or company. Promoting transparency from the beginning of the process (day in the life, pay, work hours, etc.) will serve you well.

Make it easy to apply to your company

This is directly opposite of advice you received when the recession hit. Applicant volume was so overwhelming that many organizations intentionally asked for more information upfront in the hiring process to try to cut down the exorbitant number of candidates. As the applicant market has corrected, this no longer makes sense. If you’re still requiring applicants to provide a full application to be considered for openings in your company, now is the right time to reconsider that approach. Things such as shorter applications, multi-step applications, applying with social media profiles (LinkedIn, Indeed), etc, are all things that are very attainable with today’s technology, and all create a more favorable impression with potential job applicants.

Clearly explain your hiring process

This doesn’t need to be any top secret endeavor. Let applicants know upfront what will be involved in your unique process. This ties in with the honesty tip in #1 above. If applicants know what to expect, they’re more motivated to apply and more likely to stay engaged as you go through your cycle. Publish this in your Careers section or make it part of the online employment application process.

Stick to your process

Be sure to follow what you layout to your candidates. Meeting expectations is important, as this will quickly help applicants form an opinion about your organization. Try not to deviate from what you’ve laid out and do everything possible to keep a good pace/momentum to the process. This will keep you top of mind for those better applicant targets and help keep people from dropping out of your funnel.

Communicate with your applicants

Nothing kills momentum or great impressions like failure to follow up. Ask any job seeker their number one complaint and it’s almost assuredly the lack of response after a resume or application is submitted. Don’t fail to capitalize on the time and effort (and dollars) spent to get good applicants into your cycle. Keep them informed about next steps and timing for those. You’ll stand out relative to other potential employers and establish goodwill with your applicants.

There are more specific strategies for any of these core items listed above. These are simply big-picture ideas to use when framing out or revamping your hiring process.

To learn more about ExactHire’s applicant tracking and onboarding software products, please visit our resources section or contact us today.

Image credit: Zelda was Kicking my Butt xd by Ashley Sturgis (contact)

So You’ve Graduated And Need A Job – Now What?

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The month of August seems to bring new life, and especially after our seemingly endless Permafrost due to the Polar Vortex, new life is beyond welcome. The month of May also brings a new round of college graduates ready to bring new life to the workforce after years of educational development and preparation. If you’ve graduated recently, this blog is for you!

First and foremost, congratulations on your degree! Your seemingly endless hours of studying and prepping (and occasional partying) will pay off, but it is up to you to emphasize what YOU bring to the workforce and not rely solely on the a piece of paper that says you earned a degree. The diploma is an achievement, but how you use your education is the greater achievement. From employers’ eyes, companies are seeking individuals who can utilize education in a way that yields benefits to the companies themselves. How you apply what you learned is the key that opens new doors.

Your homework does not stop at graduation. It is only the beginning. When you are applying for jobs, do not apply whimsically. Research the companies in which you are looking. Know the companies’ products, locations, and what they really do. Ask yourself, “Does this company appear to offer opportunities to challenge me where I can grow?” along with “Is this a company where I feel like I can ethically work?” I am quite sure you are thinking, “Sure, that’s nice to think about, but I have loans to pay off so I need a job now.” I am not disagreeing there…those loans will need to be paid back and paid back soon, but you need to find a company where you fit just as the company needs employees that fit their culture.

Job Tips for New Graduates

From a recruiter’s eye, seeing an applicant’s resume with an extensive display of job jumping of six months here, four months here, nine months there can easily make the recruiter want to pass on you, even if you are qualified, because you would be considered a flight risk. According to a CBS MoneyWatch article, employee turnover digs deeply in the company budget, and an organization cannot financially take the risk on hiring someone who might be job jumping again in a few months. Longevity is a good thing. Even if you accept a position that is not your dream role, stay at that company for at least a year but preferably two or three; you do not know when you might be able to internally transfer to a new role that you prefer, and future employers will find your commitment appealing.

When you go on interviews for the jobs to which you applied, be ready and be confident. Again, that is easier said than done. There is that Catch 22 question: How do I get a job if I don’t have experience, and how do I get experience if I don’t have a job? Focus on any college employment and volunteer activities in which you participated and share what you learned and how you grew from those activities. When meeting with recruiters, explain those responsibilities and how those skills you acquired and refined can transfer to the job in which you are interviewing. If you were not very involved in college, start volunteering now. Volunteering is a great way to serve others, and in addition, do some professional networking.

Work on your communication skills. Speak with a confident tone and eliminate the “uhhhs.” Make eye contact, but do not stare because that can be considered a rude or aggressive behavior. Practice makes perfect so complete mock interviews with your college Career Services office or with professionals with whom you trust their feedback. In your interviews, emphasize another key aspect you bring to the table–technology skills. Your generation grew up with technology so describe the tools you have used and how you are eager to learn about incorporating new technology to maximize efficiency.

Willingness & Enthusiasm Matter

Be open-minded and look at the macro (world) and micro (company/employment field) with wide eyes. You are a novice, but that is ok! Share with the employer that you are willing to learn, and you can bring a plethora of ideas that can bring new life to the company. Not all of your ideas will be implemented or even supported, but if you show you are willing to share your ideas and are accepting of constructive criticism, your ideas could bloom where they are planted. Employers want employees that are firmly rooted in the wellness of the organization so this is your time to shine and share. You are not going to get the corner office and move up to CEO immediately, but hard work can help you move up that ladder.

Congratulations again, Graduates! You have been receiving “wisdom” from others for years so take that wisdom and customize what you have learned on your endeavors. It is a new, exciting and even scary time for you, but if you do your homework and continue to learn, whether it be about your profession or specific companies or related topics, you will continuously improve your most influential and powerful tool…yourself!

ExactHire provides recruiting and employee onboarding software to small and medium businesses to help them leverage technology in the hiring process. For more information about my company’s product, please visit our resources page or contact us.

Image credit: Graduation Cake Guy by David Goehring (contact)

Which Recruitment Metrics Are Right For You – Cost Per Hire?

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In the age of Big Data, we have access to crunch numbers and draw insightful conclusions in many situations. The recruiting and human resources realm is no exception thanks to ATS, HRIS, LMS…and many other alphabet soup acronyms. But sometimes having that much information at our fingertips can be disabling and intimidating if we aren’t sure which metrics are worth our attention for our specific company. And let’s say you do know which KPIs will serve you well…how do you then decide on appropriate benchmarks for each metric for your business?

It may not be as simple as relying on comparisons for your industry because many factors can come into play such as your company size, geographic area, organizational culture, compensation and benefits package, number of steps in the hiring process and brand reputation. But, you’ve got to start somewhere…and as my favorite high school Composition teacher Mr. Barlowe often reminded me, “you’ve got to know the rules before you can break the rules!” Or for our purposes…know the meaning of various metrics before deciding which ones to throw out the window.

With that in mind, this blog series will provide a run-down of some metrics, AND mitigating factors, that might influence your decision on whether each could be a powerful piece in your recruitment dashboard. First, we’ll examine…

Cost Per Hire (CPH)

The average costs associated with hiring an employee for your company are comprised of both tangible expenses and the opportunity costs of various individuals’ time tied up in the selection process. While its easier to calculate the former by tallying expenses such as external job board postings, staffing firm services and criminal background check fees, figuring the cost of your staff members’ time is a little trickier as it varies with individual role and employee. While I’ll focus on some quick basics in this blog, for a comprehensive look at the CPH metric, check out this collaborative effort between ANSI and SHRM.

Why Hiring Costs Matter

CFOs love numbers like this as it directly relates to the bottom line and, over time, can keep you honest if recruiting expenses begin to inflate without generating improved efficiency in the selection process and/or quality of hire. You can use it to look for trends over time and across positions, as well as give your hiring managers a gentle nudge urging them to make up their mind more quickly if their indecision (or lack of sense or urgency to responding to applicants quickly) affects this indicator. Here are just a few examples of items that may contribute to your cost per hire calculations:

The cost of time to…

  • Write a job description
  • Push a job listing to various external job boards (will vary depending on hiring software that may or may not be in place) – and maybe you’ll need time to research which job boards will be best suited for your role, too.
  • Review applications and conduct phone interviews. An applicant tracking system (ATS) – though an expense – might save one enough time in shortening the screening process to be worth it.
  • Develop interview questions
  • Correspond with applicants to schedule interviews and send rejection notices
  • Prepare materials to recap applicants’ initial pre-screen for hiring managers
  • Make up for any revenue lost from stakeholders involved in the process that were pulled away from any normal money-generating activities
  • Coordinate the logistics involved with onboarding a new employee prior to their start date

The hard cost for…

Mitigating Factors for CPH Benchmarking

There is a direct relationship between cost per hire and time to fill (another metric to be discussed in the next installment of this series). So, the longer it takes you to find someone for a position, the higher your cost per hire figure will climb. However, while keeping expenses in line should naturally be important, you probably don’t want to pinch pennies so much that you are unable to successfully hire the right individuals. Here are some potential factors to consider:

  • If you historically just can’t find enough applicants for a position that is open frequently, then it’s reasonable to expect that your company might need to fork up the money for paid job boards or booths at job fairs.
  • If certain positions in your industry are uber-competitive, then grab your share of the limited candidate supply by considering a signing bonus.
  • Despite time being money, if you have previously rushed through the selection process to fill a seat with a warm body, then slowing down to make sure you find the right candidate for not only the position, but the company culture, just makes sense.
  • If you are a small company, it may be hard not to have a CPH that is especially weighed down by the opportunity cost of employees’ time. With fewer people on the team, everyone must wear many hats and contribute a great deal of time to the hiring process. Each new employee is that much more critical in a small business that may not be able to afford to make hiring mistakes.

Cost per hire may very well be an important element in your analysis of recruiting efforts. Looking at the fluctuations to this metric over time for your specific organization will allow you to make the appropriate adjustments and decisions to propel your business forward.

HireCentric applicant tracking software from ExactHire is specifically geared toward the SMB market. For more information on how this tool can impact your CPH, please visit our resources page or contact us.

Seasonal Hiring – Don’t Let It Be Your March Madness

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While this blog isn’t really about basketball during the blissful (at least I think so) weeks of the NCAA’s March Madness extravaganza, it does refer to another cyclical phenomenon that can bring chaos, perhaps excitement, and irregularity to your daily routine. Seasonal hiring. It can be hectic and stressful for many companies. The two busiest times for this type of hiring for many companies are before the summer and before the winter holidays. Here are some helpful tips to make this process more efficient.

Plan Ahead

Know when your “busy” season is going to start and make sure you have enough manpower to handle the season. Also, it will be important to make sure your staff is well trained. A key component to this step working effectively is to be clear and concise when listing your job requirements, screen applicants for those requirements (perhaps using an employee assessment tool for unearthing certain characteristics), and then make sure new employees are provided the tools necessary to do the job, as well as the right expectations for success during the training process. Its okay to be picky when hiring, even for seasonal staff, because the other option is having to retrain (or release) a new employee halfway through the season. And what’s the opportunity cost of that exercise for you?

Use Hiring Software

A web-based hiring tool such as applicant tracking software (ATS) will allow you to quickly search through all applicants that are applying to your positions using various filters and sorting tools. This will allow you to use quick, deal-breaker-type questions to eliminate the candidates that are not a good fit. You will be able to more quickly find those individuals that meet minimum basic qualifications for the position, and who are more likely to fit the needs of your company. Some organizations might overlook the need for this software application for seasonal hiring due to concerns about potential cost, but it will save you time and money in the long run to make a quality hire, and an applicant tracking system can be an affordable option — even for small businesses.

Provide Incentives

If you have staff members that come back, season after season, consider rewarding them with a re-signing bonus. Also, make sure they know about your employee referral incentives in case they know of others that would like to work within your organization. Also, when you are hiring, it is wise to give preference to those that will be able to come back season after season. This will reduce the cost of training new employees and the employee onboarding process will likely be more efficient.

Advertise in Various Places

Using the standard job boards is great for many types of jobs, but with seasonal help, you may need to think outside of the hiring box, too, as some job seekers desiring short-term employment may not peruse the big boards for temporary work. Use social media to spread the word of your seasonal job opportunities, and enable current staff to easily share the jobs on their own social media profiles, as well. Also, if you think students would be one of a few good referral sources for a position, post jobs to local college job boards or and social media properties.

Whether you are hiring for retail jobs during the holidays or summer landscaping positions, seasonal hiring is nothing to take lightly. Use your time and other resources to make accurate hires now to ensure a successful business season later. This will also ease the burden of your full time employees and your hiring managers, while will earn you some points on the employee engagement spectrum. To learn more about ExactHire’s HireCentric applicant tracking system, please visit our resources section or contact us.

Image credit: Strobist: Basketball Group Assignment 2007-03-28 by Doug L. (contact)

5 Tips to Shorten Your Hiring Cycle & Get Better Hires

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In case you don’t already know, we work mostly with small- to mid-sized businesses (SMB’s). For most of the organizations who fall into this category, hiring is often something that’s done without much thought given to ways it might be improved. With limited resources, improvement initiatives are often focused more on things like product development, sales, technology, etc.

At the same time, however, the common resource virtually all organizations need to survive (let alone grow & improve) is people. So, if there are ways to get better hires in the door faster (with greater likelihood of fit & engagement), it only makes sense to pursue those. To that point, below are five quick ideas for any SMB to not only get people through the process faster, but to greatly improve the odds of getting better people the first time around:

1 – Have brief and powerful job overviews

No one wants to read a three-paragraph overview of your position. They want to be wowed. Give them an idea of what a “day in the life” will look like for the role. Share where the career path can take them. In other words, sell the sizzle…not the steak.

2 – Share what the position will pay

This shouldn’t be taboo. Putting at least a reasonable range of salary in your job overview helps you and potential applicants. They don’t waste time applying for jobs outside their desired income range, and you don’t waste time pursuing applicants who ultimately will fall by the wayside as they learn what the pay looks like for your opening. This transparency can also help to set you apart from competitors who are hiring from the same pool of applicants, but aren’t sharing what their position will pay.

3 – Make it easy for people to be considered for the position

This is the new normal. With all of the changes in the technology realm over the past three to five years, most applicants (especially those not actively looking to change positions) are no longer willing to provide a full online application to simply be considered for your opening. There are too many other companies out there who will get them through the initial application process in less than 5 minutes. Take advantage of tools available in the market to keep up with what your competitors are doing in this regard.

4 – Use technology to manage your applicants

No matter what matter what applicant tracking system provider you use, please use something. While we’re always open to new clients here at ExactHire, the real message here is to incorporate technology into your hiring process in some way! If you follow the steps above, you’ll likely see a good number of potentially qualified applicants for your positions. That’s the good news. The bad news is that all of those applicants expect to know where they stand in the process on a pretty regular basis. This is nearly impossible without using hiring software of some kind. There are lots of good ones out there that are affordable and geared to our SMB space.

5 – Consider employee assessments

Using a well-validated assessment as one of your final steps is a luxury that you can consider, once you’ve implemented the 4 steps above. Since applicants are now getting through the process faster, asking them to spend a little extra time to complete an assessment (skill-based or behavioral) near the end of the process is viewed as reasonable. The right tool here can help you and your team confirm someone’s fit for both your position and the culture of your organization.
Consider these tips to improve the speed at which you hire, as well as the results you see with those hires. To learn more about ExactHire, please visit our resources section or contact us. 

Image credit: by Ernest (contact)

How to Close Your Final Interview – 2 Key Tips

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There are lots of resources on the web about how to put together a good resume, find job openings, get through online application software and get in the door as an applicant. No doubt these are important things for any potential job seeker.

However, there is another element of the process that doesn’t seem to get as much attention — how to close for the job. Before you jump to any conclusions, this isn’t about turning you into a salesperson. So, don’t let the “close” term intimidate you. Instead, it’s just a natural conclusion to the process to that point. I’m a big believer that these last two steps to closing for the job you want can and will differentiate you from other candidates.

So, below are two key tips to incorporating the close into your job search…

Summarize everything that’s happened & discover concerns

You’ve done all the hard work of getting a foot in the door, performing well in prior interviews, providing references, etc. Now that the final interview is finishing up, seize the opportunity when the interviewer asks if you have any final questions. Certainly, be prepared to ask about the things that may not have been answered to that point. Once those are resolved, now is the chance to find out more. First off, be prepared (briefly) to summarize your unique qualifications for the job and why you feel you’ll be a good fit for the organization. This should be no longer than 20-30 seconds.

Once you’ve finished this statement, ask the following (in your own words):

Are there any aspects of my background or my fit for this position that create any concern for you?

This may seem uncomfortable at first, but putting this on the table will help you discover very quickly if there is anything that might potentially hurt your chances with the person conducting this final interview. Knowing it now at least allows you to address it.

Ask for the job

This is the “close” referenced earlier, and it doesn’t have to be any type of gimmick or salesy pitch. As I said before, it should just be a natural next step from what has happened to this point. You’ve made the final interview, you’ve answered all questions, you’ve summarized why you feel you’ll be a good fit for the role, and you’ve asked if there are any final issues that might keep you from moving forward. Assuming the interviewer indicates there are no real concerns from his/her standpoint, now is the chance to take the mystery out of the process. At this point (again, in your own words), state the following:

Based on my qualifications and what we’ve covered to this point, I’m very interested in filling this position for the company. What are the next steps we need to take from here?

Anyone who has ever made the final interview stage, only to have the position go to someone else unexpectedly, knows how frustrating this can be. Following these steps will help you avoid this scenario. Regardless of how the sequence plays out, you’ll know where you stand as you walk out of the interview.

Again, don’t make the mistake of assuming interviewers will share their true feelings about your chances of landing their job. There’s nothing for them to gain by proactively offering their thoughts in this type of situation. Instead, stretch outside your comfort zone and make sure you get the information you want.

ExactHire offers software that helps small- to medium-sized companies to automate their hiring process and improve results. For more information about our software applications, please visit our resources page or contact us.

Image credit: self-made motivational poster and job interview attire by Dani Lurie (contact)

Checklist: Use Metrics to Improve the Applicant Screening Funnel

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Efficiency is my middle name…or I strive for it to be anyway. I prefer to follow processes, and as my co-workers know, when they don’t exist, I’ll create my own even if they are only applicable to me. As you might guess, I’m an 8 (on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most likely to follow policies and work within the rules) on the Manageability scale of the ProfileXT (PXT) assessment. I love organization, spreadsheets and color-coding!

But why?

Of course I’m biased, but I’ll say because processes beget consistency, data and therefore the ability to benchmark. And, “big data” allows you to analyze and improve, right? Well, to some extent…but so often when we have the data, we fail to actually do something with it. We forget the improvement part in the strife to collect the data in the first place. We’re proud of our shiny color-coded bar graphs, but now we’re spent from all the data analysis effort.

Good news. Another great thing about processes is that you can put one in place for executing change as a result of your data analytics! Build it in as a step in your checklist and then it will more likely get done. In this blog, I’ll discuss executing change as a result of metrics you collect during each stage of an average candidate screening funnel when recruiting potential future employees.

First Stage – Screen Employment Application Answers

This is the step in which you, as the recruiter, review application submissions for specific positions by candidates in order to deem them qualified or not qualified for the position (i.e. do their answers indicate that they meet your minimum basic requirements for the role?). With the aid of an adequate applicant tracking system (ATS), and your own previous due diligence in thoughtful question design, you can include screening questions that prompt applicants to answer in such a way that will automatically qualify or flag them. Thanks to this automation feature, your time is optimized as you take a closer look at only the applicants who have met basic minimum requirements.

Your ATS will provide you metrics that quantify how many applications are being received, as well as how many make it past this initial screening stage (among other data). But now for the evaluation and improvement part…which applicants made it through the screening question filter, but based on your own personal review of data collected from their resume or other answers, are actually not qualified after all? Ask yourself the questions below and then use your answers to enact change with the goal of firming up this stage of the recruiting process.

Lessons Learned:

  • Did you include enough (or too much) information about the job itself in the job listing description? Could providing different information better set expectations with applicants about what is required and help them to self-select out of the application process if they are unlikely to have the qualifications necessary?
  • Did you gather information from the resume that made it clear that the applicant did not have enough previous experience in a certain area…information that you might have collected had you already put a specific required screening question in place that would prompt the applicant to provide an answer?
  • Where can you record feedback about these “misses” in terms of applicants that should have been flagged by the system? Use it as an opportunity to create additional applicant status codes/dispositions, if necessary, or record more applicant notes in your ATS.
  • Did you receive enough applications to offer you a sufficient number of qualified candidates at this stage of the screening process?
    • Do you need to push the job to more external niche job boards and/or social media sites? How will that impact your recruiting budget for future open requisitions? Do you need to redesign your job requisition form to prompt managers to allocate a portion of their budget to paid advertising for open jobs?
    • Do you have an employee referral incentive program in place? If so, consider bumping up the incentive for hard-to-fill positions, and ensure that your applicant tracking system makes it easy for applicants to name a referring employee during the application process. If you don’t have a referral incentive program yet, start one today!

Second Stage – Conduct Phone Screens

At this stage, recruiters have narrowed down their list of resumes and now must conduct phone interviews in order to determine which of the qualified applicants will be invited for an in-person interview. A great deal of “cutting” can occur at this step, depending on the number of applicants you have, and efforts should be focused on verifying, for each interviewee, that information on the employment application is true, as well as assessing the candidate’s likelihood of being a fit for the company culture. This will also be the candidate’s first opportunity to ask you questions; and, the quality and depth of these questions will often be a factor to determining the candidate’s likelihood of progressing in the process (i.e. based on the questions asked is it evident that he/she prepared; does applicant care enough to ask questions, etc.). Select the candidates who will move on to the next step and then take pause to evaluate your efforts.

Lessons Learned:

  • Which phone screen candidates should NOT have made it to this step of the process due to a lack of skills or previous experience? What about their answers or background could have been fleshed out at the point of the application?
    • Or, what other phone interview questions could be revised/added in order to more quickly determine that this candidate is not a fit earlier in the phone screen conversation?
    • Would the introduction of any job skill tests at the point of application minimize the misfire?
  • For the stars of this round, what makes them more qualified than the others? Where did the star prospects find out about the position so that you can replicate the use of that ad source for future positions?
  • Based on the questions that the interviewees ask you, what additional career-related content can your team create and share with visitors to your jobs portal? Use this technique as another way to better set expectations with future potential applicants, as well as a means to test whether interviewees take time to review resources available to them and prepare for an interview.

Third Stage – The In-House Interview

In this step, you and/or your hiring managers will meet with just a few final interviewees in person to truly understand how their past performance and experience will complement the needs of your open job. Candidates at this stage will have the right skills and experience, but now your team will need to better assess their runway potential and further clarify that their interests and motivations will allow them to thrive in the position. More exposure to this candidate during this step will allow your staff to feel more confident about whether the candidate’s personality and behavioral hard-wiring are well suited for the position and management structure in place. Depending on your company policy, you may or may not have utilized social media screening efforts to verify the candidate’s experience, values and attitude with mutual network contacts. When you are ready to extend an offer of employment, take time to gauge the effectiveness of this round.

Lessons Learned:

  • Were there any final interviewees that were out of place in this round and should have been halted at the phone screen phase? If so, for what reasons?
    • Reevaluate your phone screen questions to capture candidate feedback potentially related to such reasons next time.
    • Use manager feedback in survey form within your applicant tracking software to record peer ratings and comments, and then look for trends that allow you to unearth not-so-obvious missteps at the point of the phone screen.
  • Rather than go with your gut, is it time to introduce a cognitive and/or behavioral assessment to give you a window into more objective, validated information about the interviewee’s motivations, interests and tendencies going into the final interviews?

Fourth Stage – Point of Conditional Employment Offer

Now that you have selected a finalist, at this stage you extend a conditional offer of employment and hope for an acceptance. Depending on your organization, local laws and an evaluation of the job, you may opt to conduct a background check on the candidate with his/her consent.

Lessons Learned:

  • If he/she rejects…
    • What are his/her reasons for declining the offer? Based on trending in answers across various open positions, you might need to make some changes to a variety of areas such as job listing content, company benefits, compensation, management structure, time-to-hire and your overall recruitment brand.
  • If he/she accepts, but then later fails on the job…
    • At the point of failure, what do you know now that you wish you knew then during the interview process? Hopefully this circumstance is continuously minimized due to an ongoing attention to executing change as a result of recruiting metrics and exit interview data collected. This step incorporates all the previous considerations for tightening up the screening and interviewing process, but might also include:
      • onboarding process improvement
      • manager training
      • an adjustment to benchmarks in place for any skills tests and employee assessments
      • employee focus groups

Fifth Stage – Big Picture & Future Planning

It is evident that a sizable task list can be accumulated just from paying more attention to what isn’t working in your recruiting funnel. However, building this incredibly important exercise into your routine will make your work more productive and stress-free in the future as you more quickly engage top talent to join your team and stay for the long haul. But its not over after the post mortem following the offer stage, don’t forget to apply what you learned by making adjustments to the job evaluation process for your next open positions – before they are open and you get caught up in the hustle and bustle of filling numerous jobs at once. Update those job descriptions and screening questions now. Explore new job referral sources and look at the conversion rates for your existing ones.

Stay honest by sharing your milestone goals with other stakeholders and set yourself a deadline for each lessons learned goal. These process reengineering efforts can only improve the quality of candidate you are receiving relative to your time and effort spent, as well as your time to hire. Plus, gain the ability to better predict the number of adequate candidates you should expect at each stage of the funnel based on your first-stage numbers.

How do you keep yourself on task and accountable to enacting real change based on metrics in your organization? We’d love to know!

For more information about ExactHire’s hiring solutions, please visit our resources page or contact us today.

Image credit: Lighting Sequence by Kevin Dooley (contact)

Haven’t Landed a Job Yet? Maybe Because You Do Things Like This…

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If you find yourself in job transition and feel like you’re stuck because you just can’t land that interview…or maybe you are the other candidate who doesn’t get the job offer, then do a quick gut check and make sure you aren’t doing any of the things described in this blog. Or, if you are on the other side of the recruiting process and reviewing applicants, you probably have other “no-no’s” to add to this list – please send us your comments!

LinkedIn Contact Hoarding

Lazy LinkedIn invitations to connectLazy LinkedIn Invitations to ConnectI put this one first because it is one of the behaviors that I detest the most…when people you do not know invite you to connect on LinkedIn, but are too lazy to change the standard invitation greeting. This should absolutely be personalized, including the reason for wanting to connect, when you don’t know the person you are inviting. Otherwise, what good is it to have one in your network if you don’t know anything about the person when it comes to making introductions, asking for references, etc. From a recruiting standpoint, if you are an applicant inviting a recruiter to connect (and some will accept…while others won’t), use the invite as an opportunity to reiterate your interest in the organization.

Questionable Application Follow-Up Emails

It can be frustrating to have applied to a position, but then never hear anything back from the employer about your status. You might be tempted to email or phone them to inquire about your chances for an interview. That’s okay, as long as the job listing doesn’t say “no phone calls or emails.” But, if you do email…don’t send messages like these please…
Bad Application Emails Not Hired

Bad Application Pleas Not Hired

Bad Application Check-ups Hiring

An Obvious Lack of Interview Preparation

Let’s say you do land a phone interview or even an in-person interview. Make sure you actually do research on the company and have a sense for the products and/or services offered by the organization. Doing some homework in advance will make you more likely to shine in the interview. Not preparing will dramatically shorten the length of your interview and remove any chances of being considered for other future positions at that company. An important part of adequate preparation includes having a list of your own questions to ask the interviewers during the session. Most interviewers will give you a chance to turn the question tables and if you don’t have any you just end up looking bad.

Bitter Twitter Rants

Unless you have your Twitter privacy settings configured to show your tweets only to your followers, be careful what you type in on your smartphone next time…

Bad Interview Tweet 1

Bad Interview Tweet 2

Bad Interview Tweet 3

Weak Answers to Employment Application Questions

Many employers now have electronic employment applications that you use to indicate your interest in a specific position. Many of them, as a part of the company’s applicant tracking system, will ask questions specific to the job. These questions are a great opportunity to stand out as an applicant with a thoughtful, relevant answer. Just don’t stand out for the wrong reasons…

Bad Application Answers on Questions

Failure to Personalize Your Resume to the Position Sought

Since you are seeking a job, its understandable that you are probably applying many different places. If you think you are being efficient by using the same resume for every single application, then you’re mistaken because recruiters don’t want to see an objective statement that describes industries/position types that don’t come remotely close to the job for which they are sourcing applicants. Take the time to customize parts of your resume for the employers receiving it so that it doesn’t go into the reject pile instantly.

Misguided Objective Statement on Application

Looking for a job is a job in itself. Don’t make it harder by committing these no-no’s and erasing your chances for serious consideration by talent acquisition professionals.

ExactHire provides software suited to help organizations improve the efficiency and quality of their recruiting process. For more information about our web-based products, please contact us or visit our resources section.

Image credit: Tapping a Pencil by Rennett Stowe(contact)

Job Interview Went Well – Or So You Thought – But Why Weren’t You Hired?

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I wish the company would tell me why I’m not the right fit for the job! Despite my efforts to find out the details of my apparent mismatch, all I’m hearing on my end are crickets…Bueller?

As frustrating as being rejected from your dream employer can be, it can be even more maddening to not know the reasons for the company’s decision not to move you forward in the job interview process, or ultimately to hire you. After all, how can you improve your approach if you don’t receive any constructive criticism or feedback? Well, consider some of the reasons organizations fail to enlighten applicants about their reasons for non-selection. While some of them may be legitimate, others might just leave you wringing your hands. Nevertheless, perhaps having a better understanding of each can help you recognize areas for your own improvement and/or better equip you to seek out companies that make thoughtful applicant correspondence a high priority.

Will You Bite the Messenger’s Head Off?

This may seem surprising to you (depending on how even-keeled you are), but some company recruiting representatives may avoid getting back to you about your job prospect because they’d rather not expose themselves to the possibility that you will react in an unsavory manner. Speaking from personal experience, I can recall a specific instance where I told an individual that we wouldn’t be moving him forward in the process at the end of my phone interview with him. He didn’t hold back on his opinion, and promptly told me that I could, well…I better not say it here as it was quite colorful to say the least. This isn’t an excuse for companies shirking feedback inquiries; however, the frequency of this type of situation may depend on the “classiness” of the average applicant to the organization.

HR or the Hiring Manager is Non-Confrontational

Some people cringe and cower at the thought of telling someone “no.” Even if its only via email…maybe they don’t want to hurt the other person’s feelings. Others may avoid delivering a “no thank you” to the candidate due to the reasons for the decision, some of which may include:

  • By coincidence, the hiring manager learned some negative feedback about you from a mutual acquaintance (i.e. maybe someone at the company knows you or knows of you).
  • He/she doesn’t want to spend the time to respond because it is evident from your interview that you spent zero time preparing/researching for the interview. For example, did you know what the company sold? (Hope so!)
  • Your professionalism left something to be desired. Whether your manners were lackluster, your natural musk was putrid, or your gum smacking was highly irritating…the human resources person didn’t want to be the one to break it (though arguably this should be obvious) to you.
  • You answered a call or text during the interview. Please note that even if you ask the interviewer if its okay to take it, its not! You’re in a formal interview…turn it off. If you haven’t heard back about why you didn’t make the cut…sit tight…maybe they’ll text you…maybe.
  • Your late arrival to the interview…especially without providing advanced warning. If you don’t make time to respect their schedules, then maybe they’ve decided not to take time out to respond to you.
  • By comparison to other candidates, the answers you provided during the interview didn’t shed you in the best light. Other individuals are just more qualified than you.

The Dog Ate Your Contact Information

This one would be categorized under the inexcusable category in my book, especially in light of all the hiring software solutions today that allow organizations to easily keep track of applicant progress through the selection process. However, maybe you are waiting patiently by the phone because the HR manager really lost your contact info. The likelihood of this being the reason is slim; however, it may be more common at really small (and slightly disheveled) organizations.

Just Following Policy, Ma’am

In the interest of protecting themselves from potential employment-related lawsuits, it’s not uncommon to encounter businesses that refuse to give details about why an applicant was not extended an offer. This is arguably the most legitimate of reasons for refusing to provide feedback to interviewees. Especially in larger companies, managers want to minimize the potential for the many different people involved in the hiring process to accidentally disclose a piece of information that could somehow be used against the business by a disgruntled (and sometimes rightfully so) applicant.

Employment Brand is Not Top of Mind

While organizations are generally more easily concerned with the brand image of their products or services, sometimes employment brand (aka the feelings and expectations others experience when thinking about applying and/or working at your company) is left on the back burner. This is all too true for companies who fail to offer feedback for the following types of reasons:

  • The hiring manager in charge of correspondence is just bad at follow up and follow through…either from being disorganized or just apathetic.
  • Their recruiting professionals are busy and just don’t make time to offer suggestions to candidates for improvement.
  • The company has a super lengthy selection process. Read: It’s been so long that you think they have failed to respond, but really…maybe they will in another two months?

Don’t fret! Even if you can’t always get a post mortem from companies at which you interview, look for organizations that offer content on their website or jobs portal about how to prepare for the interview process, what to expect in terms of length of the recruiting cycle and their tendency to be (or not to be) transparent regarding the reasons for various hiring decisions. Then, at least you’ll have a better idea of what to expect going into the interview…and that helps everyone involved.

ExactHire works with companies to help them leverage software applications to improve the hiring and onboarding processes. For more information about our products, please visit our resources section or contact us today.

Image credit: Get Creative by JD Hancock (contact)