Recruitment: a candidate’s perspective

[Originally posted on LinkedIn - 24th May 2019]

I’m delighted to have recently started working for Yorkshire Housing. The recruitment process was clearly set out, timely and relevant for the role. Not all recruitment process are like that though and even good organisations aren’t really thinking about their candidates experience. A great experience, can make unsuccessful candidates advocates for an organisation they don’t work for, but a poor experience does completely the opposite.

Here are some of the poor practices I encountered from organisations I respected enough to apply for jobs with. These were “senior” roles, including some at Director/C-level - though that shouldn’t matter. A bad experience with “senior” candidates can really damage your reputation because people share bad experiences (e.g. Glassdoor). If you’re recruiting, please think about your candidates and if you’re looking for your next role, be prepared! If you’re one of the agencies I encountered, I’ll never want to use your services when I’m recruiting, so it’s bad for business too.

• I know planing a multiple activity assessment centre with multiple candidates isn’t easy, but one organisation had me waiting for over 2 hours between activities, on a sofa, in an open plan office with other staff members trying to have meetings around me (and other candidates). One candidate organised to meet a friend for coffee between activities!

• Design assessments appropriate to the role. One organisation gave me 20 minutes to prepare a 10 minute presentation for senior managers. I asked how often I would be expected to prepare and deliver presentations at such short notice and the answer was “never”. Other organisations sent me a presentation brief a week or so in advance, which is much more realistic.

• Respect candidates time (1). I attended an ‘informal’ interview, which consisted of 5 hours with different groups of people asking similar questions albeit from slightly different perspectives for about an hour each. Without a break. I was called back for a second ‘formal’ interview, where all the same people asked me the same questions but together as a group. I took 2 full days off work, on top of making time for two preliminary phone interviews with the recruiting agency.

• Respect candidates time (2). Send any online tests or preparation as far in advance as possible. Sending something the day before puts unnecessary pressure on candidates who may have been at work all day, may have other commitments to juggle and have probably set time aside in the evening to prepare for their whole interview process.

• Respect candidates time (3). Phone interviews need to be arranged around existing work commitments, because we’re all busy people. Following a pre-screening call and run through my CV, I was invited to a more ‘formal’ phone interview with the “senior recruiter” who didn’t call me. When I called the office, he was on a ‘pre-arranged call’, as if I’d just phone on the off-chance of a job interview. This happened three times. On the third call, I did manage to speak to him 20 minutes later than scheduled, when he only had 10 minutes to talk to me.

• Give candidates your attention. Whilst delivering my presentation, one CEO spent most of the time on his phone, and occasionally whispering to the colleague sitting next to him.

• Ghosting was something I wasn’t expecting, but happened a couple of times with agencies. An email exchange, an enthusiastic phone conversation, a commitment to definitely put your CV forward because it’s exactly what the client wants, a recommendation to keep a particular date free. Then silence. No response to calls or emails. I understand that sometimes things don’t work out, just say so.

• Advertising my job before I left it was an interesting experience. A keen recruiter contacted me about a role, and then two things happened. I saw a job advert which was basically my job online, just without the company name. My boss also started receiving unsolicited CVs for candidates who could replace me.

• Awkward expenses conversations. One organisation said they would cover my travel costs, over £150. I submitted receipts and filled in forms, but it took almost 3 months to reimburse and a number of slightly awkward conversations.

• Why is my current salary relevant to the job I’m applying for? Recruitment agencies in particular judged me because my salary was either too high or too low. If you’ve advertised a rate, then I know what to expect and I’m fine with it. If you don’t advertise it, why not? Are you trying to find the cheapest candidate? Also, if the range is vague or vast, then applicants will be unsure. One agency told me the range was £80k-£130k, and couldn’t articulate what the difference in skills or experience was between the lower and upper end.

I can laugh at these now, of course. But, they told me a lot about the culture of the organisations, which means I would think twice before working for them (or using their agencies).

I’d love to hear your experiences, good and bad!

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