How to Wow Your Best Candidates in the Interview Process

Job candidates are familiar with the flutter in their stomach, the nervousness, the anxiety. They polish the answers to anticipated interview questions and they review their previous job experiences to figure out what will make them stand out. New clothes, nice accessories, maybe a manicure or a haircut before the interview— these are some of the ways that candidates prepare for interviews.

But what about hiring managers? What about the people actually conducting the job interview? Not as much attention is given to the people on the employer’s side, trying to figure out how to learn the most about the candidate and make the best decision about who to hire.

Perhaps that’s because the interviewers have always been the gatekeepers to a job, and so more attention has been paid to the people trying to gain employment. However, the gatekeeper role has changed quite a bit in these past ten years, thanks to dropping unemployment and the candidate-driven economy.

What is a candidate-driven economy?

When you’re working in a candidate-driven marketplace, you essentially have more open positions than there are qualified candidates. The United States has experienced dropping unemployment for about a decade, and so more qualified workers are already employed, and happily so. Fewer job seekers means the people who are looking for jobs often have a lot of options. They can prioritize things that previous job seekers simply couldn’t.

How does this affect job seekers and employers?

Candidates still want to make a good first impression in their interviews, of course. But they now have a lot more power in the job searching process. They know that there are multiple workplaces that would love to have them, and so sometimes, it feels that the interviewee is actually interviewing the company, too.

Hiring managers, recruiters, and supervisors of all kinds need to be aware of this shift because they have to stand out among the multiple companies where a candidate may be applying.

How can you stand out as an employer during the interview process?

This is a great question to ask! Companies that aren’t asking this question are far more likely to see the negative fallout of a candidate-centered economy. As recruiting experts, thse are the five pieces of advice we have for you to help you WOW your job candidates:

1. Communicate quickly and efficiently from the very first interaction with your candidate. In fact, you may want to implement an automated system to handle some of the first contact, not because you want them to be greeted by a non-person, but because you want to make sure they get a response within moments.

2. Be present. Top-tier talent doesn’t want to be interviewed by someone who seems distracted, unprepared, or uninterested in the process. Don’t spend time on your phone.

3. Choose a great location. Show off the company’s best environments, and create an interview space that is not going to be prone to interruptions.

4. Demonstrate your company’s culture. Workplace culture is such an important part of employee satisfaction, and the interview is a great chance to show your candidate what it is you care about.

5. Don’t ask obvious job interview questions, like what are your strengths and weaknesses. Instead, ask questions that are designed to help you understand who the candidate is and how they approach things like teamwork, problem solving, and customer care. Be straightforward in your questions, too. There is no point in hiding what you are trying to ask!

Recruit and hire like it’s 2019!

Hiring looks different in 2019 than it did a decade ago, and it is important to keep up with current trends and best practices. To help you do just that, we have created an informative packet of information. You can download this free offer, Recruiting Trends in 2019, to learn more about what hiring managers can do to be fully up to date in their hiring practices!

One of the things many managers are doing is bringing in professional help! Recruiters can connect you with a pool of candidates you wouldn’t otherwise have access to, and also help you attain your hiring goals in 2019. If you want to know more about how we can help you bring the best talent to your company, let’s talk!