There are those who talk about the candidate experience, those who talk with others about the candidate experience, and those who experience the candidate experience.
The latter would be me (along with millions of others), although I’ve done the first two as well.
Just over a year ago I had gone through a high-level job search with a well-known firm in the HR B2B marketplace. Considering that they should know better the best practices of recruiting and hiring, I was left with inconsistent acknowledgement and no closure. Even thought I didn’t get the job, I was led to believe that there were other opportunities.
And then nothing. Crickets chirping in the night.
Right after that experience I wrote about how businesses owe applicants at least two things regardless of the position level being applied for:
- Acknowledgement – simply that you’ve applied and we acknowledge that. Thank you.
- Closure – simply that you are or are not qualified for the position, that you are or are not getting the job, there are or are not other opportunities with us, and we acknowledge all these things in a consistent and timely manner. Thank you.
Two things. That’s it. That’s easier to do because of recruiting system automation, although anecdotally too many companies have such low user adoption with their talent acquisition systems, they never use that functionality.
But this dysfunction is not really a function of technology. It’s a dysfunction of human ineffectiveness and process inefficiency that has remained mostly unchanged for decades.
The experience outlined above was an active job search. But what happens when it’s a passive person being tapped?
That would be me as well (along with millions of others).
This past year I’ve been “tapped on the shoulder” by a few known HR/Recruiting B2B tech brands. Most of them were incompetent communication fests that led to more questions than answers.
And then nothing. Crickets chirping in the night.
What happened to the candidate experience progress? Consider the Candidate Experience Awards that were announced at HR Tech last fall. Tons of quality research from renowned recruiting thought leaders culminating in a bevy of companies who’s applicants claim they have a great experience whether they’re hired or not –
And then nothing. Crickets chirping in the night.
Listen, we keep talking and talking about improving this experience, about how social recruiting and talent networks have put a new lens on relationship building and customer service, touting best practice after best practice, yet the business cases that exist just aren’t being used to change the way we all recruit, both outside and in.
Especially when you sing the praises of your clients’ employment branding and candidate “customer” experience, and yet you can’t even put it into practice yourself.
If you tap me on the shoulder, please talk in complete sentences and finish the story.
Thank you.
MarcomHRsay.com is an HR and Recruiting B2B blog for the real world and companies small, midsize and the entire enterprise, focusing on what helps people thrive and businesses grow.
Kevin I completely agree with your article. As a job seeker and having more than 5 recruiting companies contact me unsolicited and dealing with companies directly, I am astonished at the lack of professionalism in the interview process. After having the initial screening phone interview with HR and then the first phone interview with the hiring manager at major household name companies, I have been told “you are an ideal candidate, we would like to arrange a second interview with the team” (insert crickets here). I have also gone to the effort of completing a test project or conducting an exercise to demonstrate my skills and expertise with not even an acknowledgement and letter of closure. Many recruiting companies do not fully understand the specific job requirements or prefer a certain content and format for candidate resumes. It seems the speed and disposable nature of email communication has allowed some HR processes to become fragmented as you describe, leaving some doubt as to whether you’d actually want to work at said company at all.
Amen indeed.
Kevin, I come from showbiz where these sorts of experiences are even worse…we all need to learn to find our own closure, to surround ourselves with people who do know how to communicate, and to try and get jobs with companies that care about their employees…for me, the most caring boss has been me. I prefer it that way. Maybe that is why I played tennis – singles – competitively, ’cause I could rely or fail on my own abilities. I know team work is great when it works, but in my somewhat cynical view, it works infrequently and almost NOT AT ALL in the entertainment fields!
Good points, Bruce. Thank you. Managing ourselves is where it all starts and what we have control over.
Kevin –
Great post. This is one of those things that we have known about for a long time, but nothing makes it more serious than experiencing it yourself.
When we started The Candidate Experience Awards (http://www.thecandes.org), one of the main reasons was to put a spot light on the issue and to help create a benchmark and a process to measure the improvements made year over year. And while this gap is not something that will be corrected overnight, the good news is we have found there is a genuine and growing interest in making the investments to deliver a better experience.
Closing the feedback loop is the first step, and it’s what you have accurately defined as Acknowledgement and Closure.
But while the technology is supposed to make this part easy, I actually think a reliance on the systems is contributing to the black hole (here is a blog post on the subject http://ow.ly/8IN6F). Especially when there is shoulder tapping – candidates should not have to wait to get the canned email when the requisition is filled – and (to steal your phrase) recruiters most definitely need remember how to talk in complete sentences.
Right on, Ed. Thank you for your comment. We need make sure The Candidate Experience Awards resonate year round for what can truly work.