The Recruiting Relationship
Posted by JasonFor personal reasons or due to my company, I have felt like I have been on one long interview since 2004. Of course that’s not true, but anyone who is in the midst of looking for a new job or contract probably feels like I do – it’s a never-ending relationship.
This never-ending recruiting relationship has lost a lot of appeal for many. I know it has for me. At times, I feel like an expert on the recruiting process in terms of the avenues of applying, reading the job description for the real challenges, and playing up this knowledge within the interview itself. There are still many ways to make this relationship more valuable but the challenge is that neither side is trying very hard anymore. I know I haven’t been.
I used to follow up all my interviews with personal thank you cards. Now, I feel perfectly content in doing this via an email once I am home. This also applies to following up on a resume or interview. I will almost always lean toward email as opposed to calling directly. Not always, but in most situations, you have read the other side well enough to know what would be welcome vs. what will not.
As both an interviewee and interviewer in the past five years, I am shocked by the lack of preparation put into this process. I have seen candidates come in dressed less than professionally (jeans, sweats). A suit or some variation of professional dress is still the norm. I find it interesting that I often reflect on my shock that someone came in wearing a suit. To many in the general public, it apparently is not the norm.
Another area that shocks me is how the candidates present themselves. I have been asked on more than one occasion ‘what did I apply for’ or something similar, during the actual interview. It was not a question to glean more information on the role itself but a pure question about what job they are sitting before you discussing. Most do not research the company enough to have a foundational knowledge and therefore, have little idea how to package their skills and experiences appropriately.
But this relationship is not rocky simply because of a few candidate issues. Human Resource and Hiring Managers have created a lot of hesitancy, doubt and ambiguity as well. HR professionals do not respond to each resume submission with a ‘we’re interested in your resume, let’s move forward’ or ‘sorry, it’s not us, it’s you.” Additionally, those that do get to the interview round(s), you are still not assured that you will receive feedback if they decide to move forward with the other candidate and not you. There are countless stories of folks being led on for months by an HR person until finally the candidate gave up. That doesn’t seem like the best way for a company to build their brand, but that is a separate post all together!
Candidates are often not provided feedback on why they were not a good fit, even when they ask during follow-up (kudos to those candidates who still try). Often times, the HR person screening for the role isn’t even aware of what the role entails, the responsibilities, etc. and can answer few questions that you may have unless they pertain to the company itself. They are merely a speed bump until you can get to the Hiring Manager, who may or may not end up being your new boss.
The Hiring Manager is a great resource to explain the daily responsibilities, challenges, and needs of the role. However, to ensure the best candidate for the role, the recruiting process does not often include multiple interviews with the hiring manager, individual or panel interviews with potential colleagues, or other avenues to ensure the candidate is going to be able to come in and do the work as stated. Multiple interviews, or meetings, are essential for both the candidate and hiring manager to ensure that both understand the needs of the job, the current challenges, and the work styles of each.
The recruiting relationship has matured enough that both sides need to re-evaluate how they want to be viewed, how their brand is portrayed during these exchanges, and how each can bring more to the relationship to ensure greater work fit and therefore, work fulfillment instead of angst. It’s a shame that there isn’t some sort of “exit interviewing” for candidates to share their feedback with organizations as I believe this would provide incredible value in the recruiting and subsequent onboarding process of a new employee.
I would love to hear more about your challenges as well as your successes in the recruiting relationship. You can contact me at anissa[at]thecoachingconnectionsite.com.
Anissa Stein is a Leadership Enrichment Coach working with professionals who want more satisfaction in their workplace and who want to create regular and consistent moments of opportunity for themselves. She writes a leadership blog at http://www.thecoachingconnectionsite.com/blog.html providing ideas and support to professionals and organizations. This post was submitted for The Talent Buzz blog post contest.
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March 5th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Outstanding post! This is a great mini-guide for those who want to stand out in the job market as professionals. I wish more took advantage of helpful tips like these. Nice job!
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Anissa reply on March 8th, 2009 10:14 pm:
Thanks for the great feedback!
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March 6th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
As a former headhunter and Principal Recruiter for a major international software company, I concur wholeheartedly with your thoughtful opinions on this broken process. I’m glad that you pointed out the company’s downfalls in the process as well. You are right that many first level interviewers have little understanding of the positions or work environments, and often are given little time by the hiring managers, so they are ill-equipped to appropriately screen candidates or provide valuable feedback. In addition, those involved in the recruitment and hiring process often forget that the recruitment process is a primary public relations vehicle for their company. Well done Anissa!
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Anissa reply on March 8th, 2009 10:15 pm:
Laura, thank you for sharing your experiences as well. I think there is great opportunity on both sides to enhance this relationship. I appreciate your comments, Anissa
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March 6th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Very balanced view regarding both sides of the process. Nice! I especially like your idea of an “exit interview” for the hiring process. And with regard to Laura’s comment re: companies not treating the recruitment process as a primary public relations vehicle, amen to that!
My spouse had a recent interview for an Exec position; the 3rd face-to-face in a 4-interview process. The recruiting “coordinator” sent him the wrong starting time, so he was left cooling his heels for an hour without so much as an apology for wasting his time. Of the four panel members, one was a no-show, one arrived late, and one left early. Although he felt good about the interview content overall, he also receiving the impression that (a) the company’s organizational processes are more than a bit disheveled and (b) they were either not interested in him to begin with OR time-management and/or professional courtesy are not high priority items to them.
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Anissa reply on March 8th, 2009 10:17 pm:
It’s great that your spouse was able to look at the interview process objectively despite the signals the company was giving him. Thank you for sharing Jan!
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March 8th, 2009 at 3:27 am
Great Post!!! I agree the process is truly broken.
As a hiring manager, I have spoken to my HR department several times about providing prompt feedback to candidates. The professional courtesy of letting someone know if they are still in the running for a position or not.
I work in state government and it is very easy for individuals to get the hiring managers information. I have candidates calling me, well after a position has closed and a candidate has been selected, asking for the status of the position. It is very frustrating to have to explain to an individual, the position has been filled by another candidates weeks or months ago. HR provided no feedback, not even the typical Dear John letter….. I feel it makes our organization look very bad to the public and ultimately will cost us valuable human resources in the future.
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Anissa reply on March 8th, 2009 10:18 pm:
I love that you mention the Dear John letter, Rodney. Although a tough read, at least the candidate would have an idea of their status. Surprisingly, the dear john email is also falling by the wayside too. You sound like the kind of hiring manager candidates would appreciate. Thank you, Anissa
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August 8th, 2009 at 5:53 am
[...] not going to cut it. Anissa Stein of “The Coaching Connection” provides a great article titled “The Recruiting Relationship”. Anissa looks at the candidate experience and recruiting relationship from both the candidate [...]
September 12th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
[...] wrote a post about this once for Talent Buzz and seriously think they should have an exit interview at the end [...]