Interviewers: Consider Them Potential Clients

Interviews are not just one step in the recruitment process but are also considered an "important moment" in the HR marketing strategy. According to research, 90% of job seekers leave positions due to feeling disrespected during the interview. This not only affects the candidate's decision but also contributes to the company's image on interview experience sharing platforms. Let's learn more about this issue with Aniday!

We are facing issues with our store employee acceptance and retention rates, which have been so low that managers have to conduct interviews all day. This not only causes difficulties in recruitment but also affects the ability to increase sales. This is a difficult problem.

A few years ago, when we were consulting for a telecommunications store chain, the HR department shared with us the challenges they were facing and did not know how to solve.

"Then I want to learn more about how you arrange interviews for stores in different provinces," I said.

"The interviews will be conducted by regional supervisors, and after recruiting, employees will be assigned to stores in that area," they replied.

"So where do regional supervisors usually conduct interviews?"

"It depends on the supervisor's schedule for the day. If they have time at a particular store that day, they will arrange it there."

"Oh? Does each store have a meeting room to arrange interviews?"

The HR staff hesitated to recount, feeling embarrassed by this. They continued:

"We don't have meeting rooms at each store, so sometimes we have to use temporary spaces like hallways or storerooms..."

The HR staff said this quietly, also feeling awkward.

"I want to ask further, how do you contact and invite candidates for interviews?"

"We ask the administrative assistants to make phone calls."

"Do you know what administrative assistants say when calling candidates?"

"Mainly just to schedule interview times, nothing special."

The HR staff now looked at us suspiciously.

"And notifying candidates of results and requesting confirmation is also the responsibility of administrative assistants, right?"

"That's right! Managers are too busy, they don't really care about these things."

After analyzing the situation, we gave serious advice:

"The candidates you hire could become your colleagues, but have you thought about what happens to candidates who are not hired?"

"I guess they become strangers? Haha! Is there any other option?"

"Even if they can't become colleagues, they still have the potential to become customers! Imagine if you were a candidate - what would you think of the company after the interview process? If you were hired, would you want to confirm? And if not hired, would you continue to be interested in and use the company's products and services?"

The HR staff was now confused and unsure what to say.

Interviews are an important MOT

In business and marketing, we often talk about paying attention to MOTs (moments of truth) in customer service. That is, the quality of service during these "critical moments" will affect the customer's impression of the company and may even impact future orders. We value MOTs in customer service because gains and losses of customers have a significant impact on company performance.

Adam Smith (1776) in his book "The Wealth of Nations" introduced the concept of human capital, arguing that talent is also an important asset that helps organizations create value. So if HR partners have the opportunity through interviews to "earn" this income (attract talent) for the company, should we pay more attention to the MOTs during interviews?

Interviews are not everyday work

Karl Wierzbicki (2022) in a study on applicant tracking systems found that 90% of applicants leave jobs because they felt disrespected during interviews!

This is a big warning!

HR partners have worked hard to collect open positions across different departments, then spent time posting jobs online, screened hundreds of resumes, selected candidates suitable for manager needs and scheduled interviews, only to not have offers accepted in the end?

In fact, it seems we have been overlooking the most important steps: from handling candidate communication, conducting interviews, to providing final hiring decisions. Do we really treat this as everyday work that just needs completing?

Remember that candidates interviewing with our company are also interviewing elsewhere. They not only compare and evaluate our pros and cons against competitors, but also share their interview experiences on online experience sharing platforms.

Sharing interview experiences at our company is also advertising for the company, right? It wouldn't be good advertising! Just like "trash talk" forum posts, experience sharing platform posts about interviews would obviously not be positive evaluations of the company!

Thinking of this, do you still think interviews are just everyday work?

Important moments to build the company branding

Going back to the previous consulting case, we redirected the client's perspective to view each stage of the interview as an important moment for building the company's brand image. In the end, we helped the client compile an recruitment guidebook covering key points, information needed to provide candidates in each phone call, letter, as well as possible dialogue scenarios.

At the same time, we advised them to prepare formal interview venues for each region and try to broadcast promotional videos about the professional company image on TV screens during candidate waiting times. If no TV was available, prepare appropriate promotional materials, not only to help candidates understand more about the company, but also to boost a positive company image.

In the second year, the HR staff was glad to say that through such consultation and improvements, the confirmation and retention rates had improved significantly!

Of course, for candidates not accepted, they will no longer go to experience sharing platforms to vent, but will leave regrets for not being accepted and a softened heart towards the company. On the contrary, they will be more willing to use the company's products and services.

Finally, we reminded our HR partners once again:

The interviewer may not be your colleague, but they could very well become your customer!

Hope this Aniday blog post was helpful for you!