A Candidate’s Feast: Carving Out the Interview Experience

Are your candidate’s begging for seconds, or are they leaving the table before you even serve dessert?  In the spirit of the holiday, let’s “carve out” some time to compare your organization’s candidate experience to tomorrow’s Thanksgiving dinner.

Let’s assume that the turkey is your organization. It’s the true “meat” of the candidate experience.  It’s company culture, it’s your people, and ultimately the framework for the job.  The fatty, crispy, salty skin is your organization’s external image. This is the first thing your candidate sees (and judges).  It includes your website, careers page, the results of Googling your company name, and any other advertising, like a Twitter handle, you have afforded. They are looking for an organization that has flavor, is crispy, and is golden to perfection.  Ensuring your external image aligns with the juicy meat on the inside is an important factor to attracting the best talent for your organization.  And honestly, who doesn’t love a well-done turkey skin?

The fruit cup

Whenever we had Thanksgiving at my aunt’s house, she always served a fruit cocktail, sometimes with sherbet, just to cleanse the palette.  Fancy, eh?  But let’s think of this as a candidate’s initial communication with someone from your company.  It could be e-mail, phone or in-person, like at a job fair, and even extends into the first phone screen.  The message should be clear, concise and to the point.  It’s an introduction that sets expectations and, ultimately, the stage for the rest of the experience.  Next time, when you start to interview a candidate, try to cleanse the palette, and you will begin to set the stage for a great experience.

Stuffing

Mmm, stuffing.  Arguably the best part of the entire meal.  In the candidate experience, the stuffing is the guts to the interview process.  It’s about how you greet the candidate, your interview team, and the speed of the process.  These are the components of the candidate experience that need to happen, and it’s a matter of how you prepare and serve them that count.

Mashed potato

This potato is critical.  In the candidate experience, it’s like the actual discussion that occurs in the interviews.  It should be hearty, filling and creamy.  Honestly, candidates are looking for an opportunity to be challenged and respected in their interviews, but they also want to walk out the door feeling good about themselves and your company (that’s the creamy).  Take the time to plan out the questions before you sit down to interview your candidates.  You should prepare questions that will push the candidate perhaps beyond where they expect, while focusing on questions that are relevant to your organization and more importantly, the position.

Gravy

What’s the mashed potato without gravy?  This accoutrement can distinguish an OK experience from a great candidate experience.   Gravy is the feedback, the update and the components that keep the candidate in the loop.   When you meet with a great candidate, don’t be afraid to let them know it.  You don’t want to pour gravy all over your turkey (or do you?), but it’s important to tell a candidate if changes occur in your recruiting efforts, what your timeline for filling the position is and if there are any concerns that should be addressed.  If you have to put a search on hold, let the candidate know.   Try not to keep them in the dark for more than 1-2 weeks.  I find that 9 times out of 10 candidates appreciate this information and are more willing to be open and honest with you throughout the process too.

Turnip

No process will be perfect. Interviewers will run late. Conference rooms go unreserved.  To many candidates, these small snafus are much like turnip. It’s on their plate.  They have a nibble, but does anyone really talk about the delicious turnip they had at Thanksgiving?  What’s important to keep in mind, though, is that some, like my dad, love the turnip and will talk about it the next day.   The morale of this story is that sometimes those minor mistakes can indeed hurt your chances of recruiting the candidate who could go to Aunt Jo’s house for dinner because her turnip is better.

Cranberry Sauce

Sometimes it’s sweet, sometimes it’s sour.  Sometimes it’s smooth like jelly and other times it’s chunky.  The cranberry sauce is the way in which you provide follow-up to your candidate.  Maybe it’s good news (Congrats!  We’re moving you to the next round!) and maybe it’s bad news (You’re not the candidate for us).  The follow-up takes time and careful consideration.  I’ve read so many disgruntled comments on sites like glassdoor.com on organizations that completely drop the ball.  Remember, whether it’s sweet or sour, you should deliver the message in a timely and respectful manner.

Pumpkin pie

What better way to end the feast than with a delicious pie?  If you’ve made it this far, you’re extending an offer to the candidate.  It should be sweet, spicy, and firm.  At this point, you and the candidate should be on the same page in terms of compensation and expectations for the position.  And finally, let’s think of that dollop of whipped cream on top to ultimately be the candidate’s delighted acceptance to join your company!

Your thanksgiving meal wouldn’t be complete without all of these items on the table. So why should the candidate experience be different?  Focus on a developing an interview process that will leave your candidate asking for seconds and better yet, one that encourages them to invite more guests to the party next year. If you do that, you will be on your way to creating the ultimate candidate feast.