I'm in the unique position of seeing the hiring process from both sides, and while it’s the hiring companies who pay me, I love hearing feedback from candidates too. It never ceases to amaze me what takes place during interviews and the hiring process. Sometimes it can be a strange dance and, like a dance, occasionally some toes get stepped on.
Here are some of the things that candidates have brought back to me about hiring managers over the years.
The good:
- Hiring managers who come prepared to an interview, engage with thoughtful questions and take the time to get to know candidates as people, not just a talking resume.
- Being upfront about the process – the hiring time frame (including any unexpected delays or developments), required assessments, references needed, how many interviews, follow up procedures and all the details that keep this dance moving.
- This is a bit outside the hiring managers’ control, but candidates love to hear great word-of-mouth about great employers from social media, friends and family, simple as that.
The bad (with editorial comments from yours truly):
- Keeping qualified candidates on the hook as “back-up plans”. Say “yes” or “no” already!
- Failing to provide feedback in a timely manner or not at all. If you interview someone, get back to them. Don’t be a tool.
- Asking them to work for free (for a “trial period”) or low-balling the outright offer. How would you feel if you were already jumping through hoops and then they burst into flames?
- Advertising that you’re hiring for a job and you’re not – or have a candidate in cue – but want to just see who’s out there. Yes, develop the reputation early for being disingenuous - good move.
As a hiring manager, why should you care?
Beyond the obvious point that these candidates may become employees of your organization and that you want to make sure that they are starting on a high note, there’s a compelling case to be made for good PR out there in the job market. These people, both those that you hire and those you don’t, are out there talking about your company whether you like it or not. Why not actually have some good word of mouth being spread around?
Just my two cents...what I really want to know is what you think. Any stories about awesome interview experiences? Or candidates who showed up in a bathrobe and 15 minutes late? Just keep it anonymous!
Good content! A few things I've noticed as a programmer looking for jobs around town:
ReplyDelete1. The Bait and Switch Technology - promising (with a whispered caveat) that you'll get to work with "THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY" or putting that in the ad when the work is either "planned" or 1% of your actual job.
Don't lie and hope that I'll fall for it. Because I'll find out on day one and you'll be out one employee and EVERYONE will know about your little ruse.
2. Asking insipid interview questions that any fool can get out of a Google search or a $5 Dummies book. When I hear "what's your greatest weakness?", I want to answer "a low tolerance for stupid questions."
Ask me instead to describe a project I worked on and why I made decisions, both technical and business-wise.
Ask me about something new I learned and how I integrated it into my job.
Ask me a scenario question that doesn't involve dining philosophers or frogs, scorpions, dogs, priests, and canoes.
3. Refusing a phone screen and insisting on a face-to-face interview right away.
I used to be conflicted about this, but after sitting for two hours while employers either tried the hard sell or made me fill out two hours of application forms before the interview, I got sick of it.
If my job really stinks, I probably can't sneak out without drawing attention, so I'd rather bank on doing so with a better understanding of the position.
Spend 20 minutes on the phone with me, exchange information, answer my questions while I answer yours. If we're not a match, well, all I've done is taken an extended "bathroom break" at my indentured job and all you've done is spent a couple of minutes qualifying a candidate.
I know some people always want to meet face to face first, but most of the time it's so they can try to talk up the strong points, the "technology," or the best parts of the company before they throw you a salary that's $15,000 less than you're making, offer you incentives like profit sharing, or let on that you'll have to spend one weekend a month and two days a week on call from midnight to 5am.
And hey - if you keep this kind of crap up, the recruiters are eventually going to stop staffing for you, unless they're desperate. Job seekers give the recruiters a call right after the interview and dump all this on them.
And if you make the hard sale? That candidate you pushed into taking the job is going to quit after a week, and the recruiter is going to lose money. And that candidate is never going to use that recruiter again.
If you need to pull these bullshit tricks, or if you're hoping a poor job market will attract people who will put up with your awful work environment, then you need to reevaluate how you do business.
And treat people like reasoning human beings whose time on Earth is precious and who value honesty. And who use Yelp and Facebook to broadcast their messages to hundreds of people in mere minutes....