Meeting of the minds

Making interviews a little more engaging can improve candidate experience and further enhance the brand of your company during the interview process. Check out these ideas and consider the consultation of your marketing team on shaping the interview process.

Many of you are doing quite well creating your interview experience. Could you make marginal enhancements that could not only improve your company's presence in the market place, but be the spark that brings the best out of your potential candidate and help them stand out in your process?

Here are a few simple ways to improve the experience.

1. Give freebies. This can include items like company swag, such as pens, hats, or simple memorandums that commemorate their interview. This can also include a free copy of a publicly-releasable report. Even offering a complimentary beverage if the interview is in person. The sky is the limit here. Your marketing team is awesome at brain storming touch points that are unique, powerful, and compelling for your brand and sequencing them at the right time during the interview.

2. Create videos about your current employees' experiences for use on your career page. Bring their experiences to life for those preparing to interview with your firm. 

3. Create a dialog about the current and changing landscape of your sector or even the job itself. Where suitable, give your candidate an idea of where the company is positioned and where it intends to go or it's desire to either diversify or specialize in current position. Engage your candidate on their knowledge of the sector landscape, changing technologies, and outlook for the job and their insights. Seize the opportunity to be inclusive on their ideas and potential role in this dynamic environment.

4. Develop engaging questions by evaluating the candidate's presented experience, context, and background. Even better if you can connect it to a pertinent company need. For instance, when considering a mid-level software engineer looking to grow into a senior role, ask them how they would improve upon code-base, requirements for secure coding practices, and staying current on standards. Get candidates into a scenario where they are pre-planning for a use case or starting on a conceptual project right away.

5. Showcase employees who have achieved success with the company, with reasonable transparency. Your highlighted employees create the avatar for your company. For instance, "Bob has been with our company for 3-years, has already established himself an early expert in hardware design engineering, attends conferences, while continuing to enjoy his other passion of guitar and kayaking. I'll let him speak with you on work-life balance and his own perspective on this role."

6. Sincerely thank those who interview with you. Also remain open to staying in touch with them not only to ensure that you're actively considering them for the next step in the process, but also for potential in other or future roles, or even future connects in industry if they move on.

Thank you for visiting and we'll see you again soon!