Reimagining Your Interview Process for a Post-COVID World
In the 15 months as the world turned upside down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, interviews turned virtual as companies raced to adapt processes to meet the new realities. While successful on many fronts, it’s vital to keep sight of the process to make sure that it ultimately serves the person who matters most - the candidate.
We consistently advise clients to maintain focus on candidates, fitting the applicant’s strengths and characteristics to your company's systems and culture. One leader recently likened the situation to the difficulties with the early stages of the vaccine, stating “The reason so much of the [rollout] didn’t work well is because it’s systems-driven rather than patient-driven. The same could be said for interviewing. And we are seeing organizations lose strong talent because their process suits only their needs, not the candidates.”
With a strong candidate-driven job market along with pandemic-induced changes like remote work, candidate pools have grown wider, creating strong competition for most roles. It’s more important than ever for hiring organizations to apply the flexibility, adaptability and resourcefulness they’ve honed during the past year to the interview process.
Consider the interview process, specifically it’s opening cadence relative to the role in question. We recently heard of one company who wanted mid-level candidates to have first round interviews with seven different people, 45 minutes each. At that point, most candidates don’t know yet if they’re interested enough to invest over 5 hours to prepare and conduct a first round. One candidate immediately withdrew. On the other hand, one client allocated only 30 minutes for first round interviews for a Director role. Thirty minutes is not long enough at that level to allow both client and candidate to truly evaluate one another and to determine if there’s future interest.
The length of the overall process is also worthy of examination. Although many meetings are now conducted on video and scheduling interviews can be faster, the overall process is not accelerated; if anything, offers are often taking longer. Some organizations insist they need at least three candidates to bring back for second or third rounds before moving any of them forward. Those firms often lose strong candidates, as applicants move on to other opportunities. A protracted process can also cause candidates to think negatively about the firm, perhaps perceiving it as slow-moving or overly bureaucratic.
Finally, consider how many people are involved in the process. Too many people can cause candidates to feel confused or fatigued. Organizations should ask: in addition to the manager, who needs to be involved and why? Is it just people who will have direct interaction with the hire? Answering those questions will help avoid disorganization and stalled decision-making. If the process feels too drawn out, it likely isn’t the candidate’s fault but it becomes a critical part of the candidate’s experience...which, may not be good.
Ultimately, remember that in order to attract stronger talent in a candidate market, companies need to bring the agile thinking that helped them shift rapidly online and weather lockdown regulations to their interview processes. As economic conditions continue to improve, continuously tailoring the interview process to meet the needs of the candidate is essential.
Want to learn more about Benson Executive Search and our customized approach to identifying and placing the best HR leadership talent? Reach out to us at info@bensonsearch.com!