, Author at Paul Duxbury

Imagine

No, not a reflection on the John Lennon song of that name!

But…..

…. Imagine a CEO allowing their Sales team to say this:

“Because of the number of enquiries we receive we will only respond if we think you are really going to buy”

But they allow:

“Because of the number of applications we receive we do not respond to unsuccessful candidates”

When I posted that on Twitter one of the responses I received was along the lines of there probably being more people in the Sales Team than there are in the HR/Recruitment Team.

To be honest it has been quite the opposite in some instances I have experienced.

But where that is true then my challenge to CEOs if they want to retain/gain me as a customer would be to resource HR/Recruitment properly to give a good candidate experience – surely it makes sense?

Just imagine if the people at the top of organisations gave as much attention to the candidate experience as they do to the customer experience? They might even get more customers or retain existing customers.

Do You Want Me as a Fan?

This is the second in a series of short posts looking at What I (a candidate) want from Recruitment. In the previous post (which you can read here) I suggested that there were some simple things that would make life better not only for the candidate but also the employer.

Those simple things were around including details of the overall process in your advertisement. Now let’s move on to the stage where I have applied for the role. What do I want?

The CIPD (the organisation that sets the professional standards for HR) suggest that when it comes to applicants the following should be a rule of thumb:

” Prompt acknowledgement of an application – whether successful or unsuccessful – is good practice and presents a positive image of the organisation. “

In many ways there isn’t much to add there but let me just expand a little on the various aspects of what the CIPD recommend:

As a candidate I want to know that you have received my application
If I am not going to be invited to interview then I do want to know even if it’s just a short (personalised) rejection email. You want to leave me with a positive impression of your organisation don’t you?
Don’t do what one large organisation did recently to me and reject me within less than 5 minutes
1. Telling me that they had “carefully reviewed my CV against the criteria for the role.”
2. What was really obvious from having worked with various types of ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) was that they had set it to reject anyone who had put a previous or expected salary higher than they were prepared to pay – of course they had not advertised the salary!
3. What a waste of time it was for me to have applied and was I left as a fan, advocate or ambassador for the organisation? I think you can probably guess the answer!
If I am going to be invited to interview and you want me to do a presentation then please include the details. These should include the instructions for either getting the presentation to you or whether I can bring it with me on a Pen Drive. That saves a lot of unnecessary emails clarifying the details.

In the next post I will look at the Interview Experience from the Candidate’s perspective.

Have you had any experiences having applied for a role where the organisation could do better and what could they do better?

The Basics of A Recruitment Experience

I read an article the other day by David D’Souza entitled “What I Want from HR” (you can read it here) which set me thinking. As a current job seeker and with many connections who are looking for a new role I found myself pondering on what would constitute a good Recruitment experience from a candidate perspective.

As I thought about it, I came to realise that, actually there isn’t that much that is needed to elevate the average candidate experience to something better.

The Absolute Basics:

When I am recruiting I have a tendency to sit down with my diary and work out when things need to happen. I put together a mini project plan so that I can map things out against other priorities and put time into my diary. Admittedly things can happen that change the dates I put in my diary and I have to be flexible but I have a sense of when each of the main steps in the process will happen.

I am sure that I cannot be alone in taking a planned approach to recruitment or rather I sincerely hope that I am not.

How to Deal with Setbacks

Setbacks are an inevitable part of life. Relationships end. Illness can strike out of nowhere. People get made redundant or otherwise lose their jobs. Floods, tornadoes, drought or fire can destroy homes and businesses. The car breaks down on the day that rent is due. Whether a setback is big or small, how we deal with it can help us move on productively or leave us mired in negative emotions.

I know from personal experience that what seems like a setback such as being made redundant can feel traumatic. However, by stepping back, thinking about what I want to do in terms of my career; where my priorities are and what I want to do going forward I have been able to turn that setback into a real positive. So rather than simply focus on securing a new role as a Learning and Development Manager I have been able to think more broadly.