5 Ways Companies Lose Candidates
Finding a candidate who is a great fit for your automation, engineering, or sales jobs is like hooking the perfect trout on the fishing trip of a lifetime. When you have great candidates, who have been thoroughly vetted and hit all the right notes in the interview process, the last thing you want to hear is that he or she has moved on to another opportunity.
5 Ways Companies Lose Candidates
- Don’t respond in a timely manner. Your recruiter and your HR team have worked hard to find the right candidates to interview. Managers need to respond to recruiters and HR within a few days, not weeks. If the candidate hears nothing, they will move on to the next job, assuming they haven’t been chosen. Some candidates also feel that a company slow to respond when they want to hire you, will be slow when it comes to other vital communication and decision-making.
- Leave them hanging. If you’re still trying to set up one last interview with Candidate B and Candidate A was interviewed four days ago, your HR manager or the primary interviewer should reach out to let Candidate A know that they performed strongly, but there is still one more candidate to interview before a decision can be made. Be honest, be timely, and most candidates will stay open to working with you if they understand the delay.
- Make an offer that insults them. If you’re interviewing a candidate from a more expensive area, you may choose to offer a similar salary minus the cost of living difference. Understand, that a big leap backward in compensation is never a plus. While it may make mathematical sense, it just won’t fly with the candidate. If your candidate makes $205K in Los Angeles, and your company is offering $90K, you may lose the candidate even though the numbers are similar once you factor in cost of living. Chances are good that a small decrease will be acceptable, a large one will feel wrong to the candidate.
- Force the fit. If the candidate isn’t quite right for the job, or if the job isn’t quite right for the candidate, that new hire won’t stay. At Step Up Recruiting, we are not about the churn and burn. We are about retention of employees, as this benefits both the candidate and the customer. Happy employees who fit well into their job, their team, and are happy with their compensation will work harder, stay longer, and add more value to your organization.
- Throw them into the deep end. We have all heard jokes about new hires who go out for lunch and never return. It’s not a joking matter, and it actually happens. Provide good training, continued support for a few weeks after the hire date, and new hires will settle and become a valuable part of the team. Dropping them in the deep end without a life vest? You’ll lose your candidate fast, before they have a chance to acclimate to a new culture, new team members, and new workflow. Even the perfect-fit new hire needs time to adjust.
Want to learn more about how to attract, hire, and retain great-fit employees? Contact Step Up Recruiting today!
