In a competitive recruitment market, finding strong candidates can be challenging. Even when businesses succeed in attracting good applicants to interview, poor interview experiences can result in those candidates choosing to work elsewhere.
Many organisations invest significant time and money in attracting candidates, only to lose them during the interview process. In a market where candidates often have multiple opportunities available to them, making a positive first impression has never been more important.
Receiving a rejection from a candidate you wanted to hire is disappointing. However, it also provides an opportunity to reflect on whether the recruitment process is helping or hindering your ability to attract talent.
Why Does This Happen?
It is easy to assume candidates need to improve their interview skills, but interviewers are not always getting it right either.
Many managers receive little or no formal interview training and may be unaware of how their approach is being perceived by candidates.
Some of the most common reasons candidates give for turning down job offers include:
- Interviewers appearing unprepared
- Inexperienced or poorly trained interviewers
- Interviewers seeming distracted or disengaged
- Weak questioning and listening skills
- Feeling rushed or not given the opportunity to ask questions
- A lack of enthusiasm when presenting the role or organisation
Every interaction during the recruitment process contributes to a candidate’s view of your business. A poor interview experience can undermine an otherwise attractive opportunity.
Why Does It Matter?
Poor interviewing can have consequences far beyond a single vacancy.
Candidates who have a negative experience are less likely to accept an offer and may share their feedback with others. This can damage your employer reputation and make future recruitment more difficult.
Poor interview processes also increase the risk of making the wrong hiring decision. Recruiting, onboarding and training a new employee requires a significant investment of time and money. If the person is not the right fit, the costs can quickly escalate.
A poor hire can affect customer relationships, team performance, productivity and morale. Existing employees may find themselves correcting mistakes, providing additional support or carrying extra workload, which can impact engagement and retention.
Investing time in selecting the right candidate is almost always less costly than dealing with the consequences of recruiting the wrong one.
How Can You Improve?
Review your recruitment process from the candidate’s perspective.
Consider the quality of communication, the structure of your interviews and whether your hiring managers have the skills needed to assess candidates effectively whilst also showcasing the opportunity and your organisation.
Well-trained interviewers are more likely to:
- Create a positive candidate experience
- Gather better quality information
- Make more objective hiring decisions
- Improve offer acceptance rates
- Strengthen the organisation’s employer brand
A candidate may only spend a few hours with your business during the recruitment process. In that time, they are deciding whether they want to work for you. Making those hours count can make all the difference.
Interview Skills Training
If you would like to equip your managers with the confidence, skills and techniques to interview effectively and improve candidate experience, our Interview Skills Workshops can help.
To find out more, contact us on 01794 874232 or email hello@emphasis.uk.com or book our interview skills workshop on the training tab.
