Client Preparation
Really? Preparing the client? Uh, yep, we do this on every engagement. It’s too easy to quickly sign an agreement to work on a position for a client only to immediately run into challenges getting resumes reviewed, timely responses, interviews set and feedback on interviews. In fact, not only is it easy, it’s often the case unless we’ve had a couple of good planning sessions with the client at the onset of the search.
Most clients are well intentioned and believe they have great processes and are efficient interviewers. They may not know better or their definition of being efficient is different than ours and our candidates. We’ve learned to not leave this a gray area.
Nowadays the market is hot and candidates are often in two or more interviews simultaneously. They have options. They’re taking time out of their current job to interview, prep and follow up – they deserve to get timely feedback as to if they’re getting interviewed (or not); how they did in an interview and if a job offer is forthcoming. If the interview process is slow, herky-jerky, or seems like their resume went into a black hole, candidates quickly lose interest and assume the interview process is reflective of the overall culture.
We also coach our clients to have as few interviewers as possible, to circulate our notes and the candidate’s resume to all of the interviewers and to attach the resume to the meeting invite or Zoom interview invite so the interviewer always has access to the resume. It’s also helpful for the HR team to share the position the candidate’s interviewing for and why the candidate is viewed as potentially being viable for the position. In general it’s also helpful if a company has a consistent message to candidates as they interview- in other words all interviewers have similar messaging about the company and it’s strengths and weaknesses when meeting with a candidate.
We coach our clients to give us feedback on resumes we submit within a day or two and to get us interview slots for candidates within the first few days of their resume being submitted. We also expect feedback on the interview and next steps within a day of any interview. Handling this promptly sends a positive message to the candidate that their time and interest are appreciated. Handled poorly though and the candidate loses interest and feels their time was wasted.