How To Help Your Candidate Be At Their Best Throughout The Interview Process
Posted On: Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Help your candidates to be prepared: Before sending your candidate into their first interview with a company, give them as much background information as you can. If its a software company speak with your candidate about your knowledge of the company’s software and have them do further research on it before they interview. Cover basic details of the company like its size, when it was founded, and encourage them to go to the company’s website to do their own research.
Coaching your candidate before their interview will only increase the chances of a positive result. The candidate will perform better in their interview because they are more prepared. It’s a win-win situation. The candidate is happy with your service, and you could be that much closer to a placement. Putting in extra effort to prep your candidates, not only helps you to place more candidates, but it also helps build a positive reputation for your agency.
Provide insight into the people they are interviewing with: Another tactic to help improve your candidate’s interview performance is to give them background information about the people they will be speaking with at the company. It will help ease their nerves if they have more of an idea of who they will be speaking with. Tell your candidate’s information about the hiring manager that can’t be found through Linkedin. Such as the hiring manager’s personality traits and hiring preferences.
Move them quickly through the interview process: There are multiple reasons why moving your candidate quickly through the interview processes is beneficial for both of you. It is beneficial for the candidate because it will save them time and keep their momentum going as they go through the interview process. It will also make sure that the hiring manager does not forget about them and get sidetracked by other candidates. It is helpful for you because your candidate will not get frustrated and decide to go on interviews with other companies that have a more efficient hiring process.
Many times the pace of the hiring process is out of your hands as an agency recruiter. What you can do to ensure that pace and candidate experience is positive, is to be upfront with your client about your expectations when you start working together. Ask about how long their hiring process usually takes and give your thoughts on what you have seen work in the past. If their hiring process is slow, you can add your input about faster processes that you have seen produce positive results. If they are open to your suggestions great, if not at least you can warn your candidate that this is the standard pace that they move candidates through. Another thing you can do to influence the pace of the hiring process is to check in regularly with the hiring manager.
Give them feedback: Feedback is essential to give your candidate during the interview process and after it is over. Speak with your candidate in between interviews and ask how their conversation went, as well as inform them of the next steps that are likely to take place. You are the mediator between your client and the candidate. Open lines of communication with both parties is very important.
During the interview process it is important to receive feedback from the hiring team on two things. Most importantly, their opinion of your candidate’s qualifications. Secondly, a set date for the next step in the process. Focusing on these two topics will ensure that you will always have helpful feedback for your candidate about their performance. Focusing on a concrete date for the next interview will also keep your candidate interested in the opportunity and prevent them from getting “snatched up” by other companies.
This technique ensures that you are proving your value as a recruiter to your candidate, while increasing their chances of landing the job. If the hiring manager is not interested in moving forward, have them expand on the reasons why. This way at least when you break the bad news to your candidate you can provide the hiring manager’s reasoning behind their decision. This can help your candidate improve in the future. Additionally, understanding their rationale will help you recalibrate your search.
Sources
“Be a Better Listener in the Interview Process | Monster.com.” Monster Hiring Resource Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Aug. 2016.
“3 Mistakes to Avoid When Interviewing Developers | SmartRecruiters Blog.”SmartRecruiters Blog. N.p., 23 Nov. 2015. Web. 02 Aug. 2016.
Amanda is receiving her BA in public relations, from the S.I. Newhouse School of public communications at Syracuse University. She started as a business development specialist in 2014 and transitioned as a content writer in 2016. Feel free to reach out to her by email and LinkedIn.