Blind dates are sometimes good, usually bad, and always weird at the beginning. So are many interviews between a candidate and a hiring company.
If you have never been on a blind date yourself, it’s when a friend sets you up to meet a mystery person that you don’t know and never met before.
It beats me how hiring companies still treat applicants and candidates as though these people desperately need a job and subject them to abuse and arrogance by misinformed hiring managers.
Now, if you have no problems in your company attracting, hiring and retaining staff, you can stop reading now. We envy you. For the rest of us, please keep reading.
What irritate and upset applicants and candidates?
So, if you are a hiring manager, HR Manager, or just someone who applicants and candidates come in contact with, here’s a list of things that irritate and upset.
It’s those people you so badly need to hire – but probably won’t because they will reject your offer of employment because of the way they were treated.
- No information is given to the candidate prior to the interview about how many people s/he would meet; their names and what positions they hold in the company.
- No information if the interview would last an hour or perhaps two or three back-to-back meetings that would last half a day.
- No information about the interview agenda and how the interview would be structured.
- No information is given on who to call, and a mobile number, in case of any delay on the way to the interview.
- A last-minute change of date and time by the hiring company leaves the candidate with a wasted day off from their meagre annual leave entitlement.
How you impress candidates – and win their hearts
Email candidates beforehand with the interview agenda, names/positions of who the candidate will meet, the estimated time for the interview. And a name and mobile to call in case of any unexpected delays on the way.
The lobby area and meeting room will in most cases be the only thing the candidate will see when coming for the interview. And your receptionist and interviewer the only two people to represent your company and brand.
The candidate’s experience from arrival to departure is a major part of a candidate’s decision to accept a job offer or reject it. You must put your best foot forward.
Inform your receptionist about the interview with a candidate and ask her to say: Welcome Khun Sunida, let me take you to the meeting room and I’ll let Khun Robin know you have arrived.
Make sure the meeting room has been cleared from a previous meeting. No coffee cups left on the table, the blackboard is wiped clean, chairs put back in place, and a spray of air freshener. The room is ready.
Filling out application forms is old fashion – stop it!
For some unexplainable reason, applicants and candidates in Thailand are still asked by many companies to start their interview process by filling out an application form.
This form contains data typically needed once the person is hired, not during the process of assessing candidates.
It’s one of those stupid leftovers from a time when there were more people than jobs. When companies had the luxury of an abundance of talented candidates for each vacancy. And HR was known as the Personnel Department and reported to the Accounting & Finance Director.
The only way to get staff is to take them from someone else
How do you do that?
Read all of the above again.
Share this story with everyone who is involved in hiring. Good luck.
