Before you start advertising for your an available role within your workplace, you need to make sure that you are drawing in the right candidates and ensuring a positive experience. There are numerous reasons for doing this. Drawing in candidates that are qualified and suited to the role means you won’t need to spend an age trawling through applications from people that don’t fit. Ensuring you give your candidates a positive experience is crucial to maintaining the reputation of your business. One unhappy candidate could seriously ruin your reputation. Offering somebody a job isn’t enough to impress them! Let’s discuss further…
Writing The Perfect Job Description
Writing the perfect job description is a must if you’re going to attract the right people. That’s what you should put a focus on as you write the job description, as well as portray a positive image of your business to the reader. There should be clear instructions on what candidates should do next too, so that there are no crossed wires. Make sure you include all relevant information on the job, including time off/salary. There’s nothing worse than being interested in a job where there appears to be no information on pay!
You should avoid including excessive detail and technical language though, as this can get confusing and awfully boring for the person reading. Make it interesting by including any unique information – dull job advertisements are a no-no. You can see the article How To Write The Perfect Food Runner Job Description to help you figure out what to include and get inspiration.
It could be a good idea to ask candidates to do something unique in the application process or cover letter. For instance, you could ask them an unusual question, such as what sort of animal they’d be, or ask them to include an unusual word. This not only shows that they can have fun and be creative (as well as the fact that your business is the same), it shows that they are truly paying attention and not just sending out bulk applications.
Put Yourself In The Candidate’s Shoes
Now, put yourself in a candidate’s shoes. You’ve probably applied for one or two jobs during the course of your life. Do you wish anything was better or different? How can you apply this to your candidates?
Give An Office Tour
Starting out the interview with an office tour gives a candidate a good idea of where they’ll be working and what they’ll be doing. It can give them a better idea of whether you’re truly a company they want to work for too. Make sure your employees are on board with how they should be treating candidates when they come in. They should be smiley and friendly.
Stay In Contact Frequently
There’s nothing worse than applying for a job and then communication dropping off somewhere along the line, leaving a candidate feeling in the lurch and cold. It isn’t a nice feeling, and many would prefer to be informed that the position had been filled, even if through a bulk email. That being said, people who came in for an interview reportedly prefer being told over the phone if they haven’t got the job, as they took time out to come into your workplace. You should never leave it too long before contacting candidates, and you should even contact them if you’re still interviewing and the position has not been filled. Having poor communication was the number one issue when candidates were asked what they felt needed to be improved upon.
Treat Each Candidate As An Individual
Treating each candidate as an individual is crucial. A cut and paste interview process won’t feel right. Let’s say a candidate had to re-arrange an interview because of their child’s school play. It isn’t difficult to remember that piece of information and ask how the play went during the interview. This gives the candidate confidence that they are in safe hands and you are a company that they want to work for.
Providing a great candidate experience not only makes candidates know they are in safe hands and give them confidence in your company, it ensures that even if they don’t get the job, they keep positive feelings around your company. They may apply for another job at a later date, and if they were customers or users of your service at one point, they will continue to be. However, candidates who had a negative experience reportedly never applied for further jobs, and even went as far not to work with a company at all – sometimes even telling others not to do so. Treat your candidates right!
