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How Is Your Company Perceived By Candidates?
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Picture it . . . You get the phone call to come in for a job interview. (Stay with me on this.) I got that call when I was looking for a new job. I was all excited. I researched the company, had a list of questions to ask, and picked out the perfect outfit. The day before the interview, I drove past the company to ensure I knew where I was going. The day of the interview, I arrived 10 minutes early. There was nothing more for me to do but be myself in the interview.
When I entered the company, I walked into a large room with several cubicles. I was not greeted right away, but rather stood in the room, with two people nearby making no recognition of my presence. When I was finally greeted by a lady, she informed me it would be a few minutes. I sat down and took a good look around. The carpet was dirty, the cubicles were very disorganized and there was a stale smell of cigarette smoke in the air. I sat near one employee who was wearing a very revealing low cut top, talking on the phone to a friend and having a very detailed, and in my opinion, inappropriate conversation at work.
When I was finally greeted by the manager, she took me into a conference room and closed the door. With no air circulation, the smell of stale smoke started to give me a headache. The interview itself went great. In fact, she said she would be in touch shortly to schedule a second interview. As I walked out, I passed several employees and not one gave me eye contact and smiled. I got to my car and sat for a moment. The interview went great! Do I really want to continue with the interview process knowing that I may be offered the job to work in this environment?
What would you have done?
I started to realize that I was interviewing the company just as much as they were interviewing me. Remember, the word interview starts with the prefix INTER, meaning reciprocal. This company had to show me why I should choose to work for them.
Here are six factors to help your company attract new employees:
- Keep a clean company – from carpeting to desks. When candidates enter your company, they should be greeted with clean carpets and an organized sitting area.
- Positive Communications during the interview. Words are only 7% of our communication! The other 93% is tone of voice and body language. This applies to company employees and those actually giving the interview. Make sure to give eye contact and smile. During the interview, do not have your arms folded, shake your leg or tap your pen/finger while the candidate is answering your questions.
- The company or hiring manager should appear organized in the interview and hiring process; do you have viable and pertinent interview questions? Do you understand the job description and department expectations for that role? What is the next step in the hiring process?
- Be prepared and engaging. Show respect for the candidate and his or her time even if you are not interested in moving him or her forward in the hire process – remember you are a representation of the organization and how you treat the candidate could affect future referrals and candidates for your company.
- Follow Up. If a company interviews a candidate and decides not to hire him or her, send a form of communication (via letter or phone call) to let the candidate know he or she was not hired. If possible, the company should mention a positive aspect as why the candidate was considered and interviewed. The company will demonstrate professionalism and the candidate will appreciate the follow up and closure.
- If an offer is extended to a candidate, the above tips should help your company stand out from the others and the candidate will accept.
I received that phone call to set up a second interview. In the end, I declined going forward with their hiring process. If this company had followed the above tips, I would have gone forward with the second interview; who knows, if I was offered the job and accepted it, I would not be here today writing this article to help you and your company. Things always happen for a reason.
Written by: Nicole Behm, Office Administrator for Core Business Solutions
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