I concluded long ago that no list of complaints or grievances can ever be considered truly "complete." (Even George Carlin's famous list of dirty words started with just seven and eventually grew to more than several hundred suggestive phrases over the years...) But after posting a few common gripes about how some companies treat prospective candidates, well, let's just say more experiences began trickling in. See if any of these seem familiar & by all means, keep the good (or bad) ideas coming... Insist that the candidate complete the job application in the office instead of sending a soft copy to be filled out ahead of time. Sure, in the Internet age it's easy to forward a job application in advance so you both could maximize your face-to-face time, but this is a much better use of the candidate's time and yours. Bonus points? Require them to restate everything that's already on the resume you'll be attaching to the application anyway.
If a candidate flies a great distance to meet with you and your colleagues, let them know you are too busy to meet with him or her. I once flew to California - the most opposite point of the continental United States from where I currently live - because I was considering a job with a large firm based in Fresno. As things were winding down, I overheard the office manager ask one of the women I'd been in touch with on e-mail if she could stop by and introduce herself to the fellow who was thinking of joining her team. (Her office was right next door to the conference room where I was interviewing & the door was open, so it was impossible not to hear the conversation.) "Why do I have to meet with him?" she asked irritably. "I already talked to him on e-mail last week!" Yes, nothing makes a stronger positive impression on someone than overhearing how you can't spare two or three minutes to be courteous after they've spent an entire day flying across the country to meet with you and your team.
Tell the candidate you'll follow up by a certain time - then don't do it. One woman I know in a networking group waited for more than three months about a job she interviewed for, and the only updates she received were in response to queries she herself made every few weeks. In my own case, I once had a firm tell me on a Friday I'd hear from them the following Tuesday. It was another six weeks before I got a call to tell me that - not suprisingly - they wouldn't be filling the position after all. This brings me to -
Always keep your right hand and your left hand from talking with each other. Over the past year I can remember three instances where I'd passed all the interview hurdles only to be told at the end, "Our business needs have changed, so we won't be filling this position after all. But thanks for your interest and please check our Web site!" Think about the time a candidate puts in to preparing to interview with you - especially if they do it two or three times - and then imagine how it feels to discover at the end you weren't going to fill a job anyway. How much time does the candidate waste - to say nothing of your staff interviewing him or her on your dollar - and what does this say about your company? What kind of message do you send as a result of behavior like this?
Better still, don't follow up at all after interviewing the candidate. Ask any job seeker how many times this has happened and you'll be surprised how frequently it occurs. Granted, it's never easy to hear bad news, but if you're going to ask someone to block out time to come in for an interview - especially if they have to step out from a current job to talk with you - a little common courtesy demands that you at least follow up with them to let them know of any decisions. Failure to even acknowledge their time and interest not only makes you look unprofessional but also guarantees that the job seeker will warn anyone and everyone about your company. ("Oh, man. Stay away from that place...") And in the digital age, word of mouth can go pretty far...
Stay tuned - I'm sure there will be a part III soon enough...
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