What if Applicants Charged You for Their Time?

Recently I received an article forwarded from a friend that discussed applicants charging companies for their time during the interview process. Sounds a bit outlandish on the surface, doesn’t it? In summary, the article, “Ask The Headhunter: Should Employers Pay to Interview You?” (by Nick Corcodilos) is really about managing expectations.

There are tons of questions that could be asked if this were a serious threat:

• What if you had to pay applicants for their time once they made it past the first interview?
• What would you do differently?
• Would your decision timeframe be shorter?
• Would you make an external status code from your applicant tracking system visible so that applicants knew where they stood without having to ring you?
• Would you send mass email updates to your applicant pool with personalized email templates?
• Would you have a stricter selection process workflow with your hiring managers?
• You told the applicant you would follow up…did you actually do it?
• What about when the applicant followed up on the promise you made to follow up and you never returned his/her phone call?

Not every applicant has the luxury of disposable time. And let’s be honest, the ones who do, may not be at the top of your candidate list. I challenge you, for one month, to start acting as if your applicants would charge you for their time. If you were on the other side, acting as the applicant, would you prefer the manner in which your company already conducts the hiring process; or, would you likely prefer the way in which it is conducted during the one-month challenge period?

It is no doubt that the applicant experience is an extension of your brand. “More than one-quarter of US consumers (26%) say they are more likely to tell family, friends, and coworkers about a bad experience with a product or service than a good one (MarketingProfs).” Keep in mind, we’re all six degrees of Kevin Bacon and somewhere, somehow, your company will be impacted if your hiring process is lackluster.

Looking for ways to improve the applicant experience at your organization? Contact ExactHire for more information about our applicant tracking software.