Employers: Are you making the most of your interviews?

Imagine the situation where, as a hiring manager, you have your ideal candidate sitting right in front of you. They are perfect technically; culturally; they fall into the salary bracket; they tick all the right boxes - yet they never come to work for you. Is it the job? Is it the company they dislike? Did they not like you? Perhaps, but in this case, they just didn’t know enough.

It’s an age old phrase, but good candidates actually are hard to find. So if you have managed to get them into the same room as you, why waste the opportunity? Gone are the days when an employer can be arrogant enough to think that a first interview is purely for the candidate to sell themselves to you. In such competitive times, if you don’t make your company’s opportunities clear to the candidate at the outset, you can guarantee the next company they see will – and who will have made the strongest impression on them?!

An employer looking to build the best team needs to refine interview technique and be able to sell the company as they would to a prospective client. Too many companies waste the chance of a first interview and wait for the second to sell the organisation; but how many times does this chance not materialise? And if it does, you will still, more than likely, have competition for this person’s services. Clients, who aim to establish the candidate’s competencies and suitability for the role at first stage along with presenting themselves with vigour, often make the second interview a formality. The candidate is already sold on the opportunity and the second visit means cementing an already forged relationship. It maybe that a more established and exciting company than your own is also interviewing this person, but all too often it’s the company that presents themselves in detail and with enthusiasm that gets the hire, rather than the “best” firm. What use is knowing the candidate is right for you and offering, only to find out that they don’t know enough about you to get too excited. Wave goodbye to the potential employee and back to the drawing board.

In today’s recruitment process, it is the company that takes their time to interview well and act quickly on decisions that bags the best candidates on the market.

As an employer you often want a pro-active, passionate, decisive and motivated employee. What makes you think the candidate would be looking for anything different from you?

For more advice on presenting yourself and your company in the best fashion and making the most of your interviews, contact Harriet at BD Recruitment on 0844 8009390.