Why Quality Communication with Job Candidates is important?
Inform your candidates or applicants about their recruiting status through quality communication….
Juggling with all the candidates, their hiring status, and communicating with each and every person can be overwhelming. But it is extremely important that the recruiters stay in constant touch with all the candidates.
A clean, concise, and unambiguous communication throughout the hiring and recruiting process help in maintaining a positive candidate experience. This in turn will help to protect the company’s reputation and build positive word of mouth.
Why quality communication with job candidates is important?
Company’s reputation is at stake
A recruiter or the HR manager represents their company. They need to put in the extra effort while interviewing or communicating with their candidates to have a better candidate experience. In the end, its the candidates who are going to market the company and the company culture.
Sites like Glassdoor allow anyone to leave anonymous reviews and can criticize the company, which means that it is very risky to ignore any candidate’s query or feedback as it can hamper the company’s reputation. A constant check on such sites to empathize more on candidate experience is important to prevent bad word of mouth.
To prevent bad marketing
Making your candidates unhappy is the last thing any recruiter should do. A recent survey by Tribe on hiring practices in the US found that 78% of respondents would discourage someone they knew from applying for a role in a company where they had a bad experience during the hiring process.
To prevent a bad candidate experience, the recruiter should remove extra time to provide detailed and quick feedback about the candidate. Also, respond and acknowledge the candidate’s response, to ensure that candidates are heard and the time they have put into applying for roles and attending an interview is appreciated and valued.
Build strong relationships
A successful placement happens when a strong relationship is established between the candidates and the recruiter. For example, when a candidate has developed a trust in you as his recruiter, he becomes vulnerable to share his professional information like potential job offers he has on the table. Knowing this information you can prevent a deal from falling apart in the final stages or speed up the process if the recruiter is keen on having that candidate.
Having such information can help the recruiter to strategize properly and provide a valuable service to his candidates
To make sure everyone’s on the same track
There is nothing more frustrating to a candidate than the feeling of being left in the dark or forgotten which is referred to as “ghosting”. So say “Yes to communicating no to ghosting” When a company does this to them, they might give up on your opportunity and begin to search for other opportunities.
Communication is the key to make sure you and your candidate are on the same track. To ensure that, not only should the candidate be contacting your company each week for an update, but you should also be contacting your candidates immediately after to follow up and let them know where they are in the process.
By staying in constant communication with your candidates, we are ensuring that everyone stays on the same page when it comes to the interview process.
Here are some of the tips to help you have quality communication with job candidates
Don’t just email
Most companies prefer email and are reluctant to call or drop a message on their personal devices. We say, call them, message them but in a professional way, Of course! It may sound a bit too informal but the rise of messaging applications has led to a general reluctance from email applications.
All you need is an Applicant Tracking System(ATS) which makes 2-way communication easier for you. AviaHire’s ATS feature also uses WhatsApp, your candidate will never miss an update. Once a particular stage of the hiring process is completed an automated email is sent to the candidate’s email id and at the same time, a WhatsApp message is sent to the candidate to check their email.
If the candidate takes time to participate in an interview, the recruiter should contact the candidate, preferably a phone call to look into the matter and save the time.
Send updates which look like humanized and not automated
In order to exhibit professionalism, HR professionals forget that they have to sound human. Short and concise updates are okay but when you wish to have effective communication you must focus on establishing a professional relationship first. Job seekers often are looking from a prospective employer hence, even the recruiter should make an effort to build a rapport with the candidate.
Yes, it may sound unrealistic to form relationships with every candidate before you commit to hiring them, but its important to start building rapport with top contenders as early as you can. Instead of sending a basic, formulated email, prefer sending personalized messages “hope you are doing well”, “have a good day”, “Hello Rahul- addressing them with their name”, “let me know if you have any questions”, “feel free to call or message”.
Even if you are using automated mails make sure they have a human touch to it. AviaHire provides its customers with customizable email templates and personalized updates and messages on WhatsApp as well.
Give feedback
Most of the recruiters’ end the conversation right after the interview. Instead its better if you let the candidate know what they did well and how they can improve. Doing so will show the candidate that you care about their skill and professional growth, even if they aren’t the best match for your company. You never know, when your good deeds will give your company a stellar reputation in the market.
If you liked the blog please hit the 👏 button and share it with more people.
For more interesting blogs on Applicant Tracking System and current happenings in the HR world follow us here and on LinkedIn!