6 Tips on Conducting Interviews in a Candidate-Centered Market

In a Candidate-Centered market it is more important than ever to be sure your interview process is above standard. Candidates expect a streamlined and organized interview experience. Below are 6 of our best tips for adjusting your interview process during a Candidate-Centered market.

1. Don’t Start Too Early

It’s important not to start interviewing candidates until your management team is prepared. If your interviewers or decision makers have limited availability in the coming weeks, you should hold off on beginning the process. You will also need to be sure that you have the resources necessary to bring on a new employee. Any delay in the interview or hiring process could cause you to lose a candidate and hurt your company’s reputation. This is especially true in a candidate-centered market in which good candidates are seeing a lot of activity and have multiple opportunities to choose from.

2. Two-Interview Process

Several years ago, it was common for companies to put candidates through 5 rounds of interviews. In order to streamline your interview process, limit your number of interviews per candidate to 2, including a thorough phone screen. By screening candidates before you schedule to meet them in-person, you could save a lot of time. Instead of wasting time interviewing the wrong people in between good candidates, you can shorten the process while interviewing more people at the same time. Good candidates will no longer wait for a lengthy interview process. In our experience the best candidates receive offers in 2-3 weeks, but Bersin HR Insights reports that good candidates are off the market in as few as 10 days.

3. Offer Flexible Interview Times

The best candidates are likely to be employed by another company and may need a bit of flexibility when it comes to scheduling interviews. These candidates can’t just leave their job in the middle of the day for an interview, especially if they are trying to keep their job search confidential. It’s best to try to meet these candidates before or after working hours, or even on weekends. Not only will this help you meet more candidates who are committed to their work, showing that you can be a flexible employer could make your company seem like a more desirable workplace.

4. Standardize Questions

It’s important that all of your interviewers are asking the same standardized set of questions. It helps to cut down on rater bias. Rater bias can be defined as an error in judgement when a person’s preformed biases affect the judgement of a candidate. By ensuring that your candidates are interviewed by more than one manager, you can help combat rater bias when it comes to deciding who to hire. Standardized interview questions will help you be sure that every candidate is being evaluated in the same way. It will also help to ensure that your interview process is not discriminatory.

5. Include Multiple People in the Process

By including more than one interviewer in the process, you can help reduce rater bias. It’s always a benefit to have multiple evaluators in order to ensure that a candidate is evaluated as objectively as possible. However, be sure to have a common deadline and agreed-upon goals and requirements for the candidate. This will ensure that your management team is on the same page and has a similar idea of the person you are looking to hire.

6. Clearly Communicate with Candidates

Candidates want to know what to expect during the interview process and it’s important to communicate with them clearly. By outlining the process, they are more likely to remain engaged and less likely to “ghost” you, or disappear in the middle of the process. It is important to clearly communicate the steps in the interviewing and hiring process, and then follow-up with frequent updates regarding the candidate’s status. This will keep candidates engaged and improve the candidate experience. Many candidates are actively interviewing with multiple companies, and they need to know if they are still being considered for the job. This communication is essential if you expect them to consider your offer over others.

It’s important to make sure your interview process can stand up to a candidate-centered market. Your process must be finely tuned to ensure a fair and streamlined experience for candidates. Improving your interview process could help you land better candidates and keep up with the rapid speed of hiring.

Bradley Staffing Group is a full-service staffing firm based in Wayne, PA. We are committed to matching A-level talent with best-in-class businesses. Our knowledgeable and well-trained staff brings a combined 70+ years of staffing experience to our clients and candidates alike. http://bradleystaffinggroup.com/bradley/contact-us/