Fasten your seat belts, let’s go! You know your vacancy inside out. Preferably, you gained this knowledge by having an extensive vacancy intake with the Hiring Manager. And you didn’t just talk about hard skills, but focussed on company culture, the team composition and the future workplace. Are they looking for a topper, right winger or a striker? So, don’t just have coffee with your candidate, but also invest your time in a cup of coffee with your client. What else?
Okay, we’re going to continue where my last story ended. The search has started for the right candidate, who we found and convinced to take a meeting. How? For that, you need to take a peek at my previous blog. For now, no time to waste because we need to get the candidate to the hiring manager lightning fast.
"How do I get this dream candidate around the table with that critical Hiring Manager?"
But first, the interview with Decom. We need to assess if our dream candidate is indeed the top scoring striker we’re looking for. This starts with a personal interview. You heard me, in person. Face to face, because we value an optimal candidate experience and we don’t introduce candidates to hiring managers before first speaking to them in person. With the finest coffee. What Else? Okay, full disclosure: if we find a great candidate beyond our borders, then we will make an exception and do a video interview instead.
The heart of Venray
We prefer to have meetings at our office in Venray. An office we are super proud of. Just have a sneak peak at number seven in this list http://bit.ly/2cdl5q6. So, we are located in Venray, which is nice with fishmonger Peter at walking distance and Bülent, who knows how to conjure up the best kebab of western Europe on our plates every Friday. But even outside Venray we know our way around. Oftentimes the recruitmentteam is ‘on the road’, for example at our office in Utrecht, Brussels or at one of our many flex locations.
Being self-critical
In my interviews I’m committed to provide transparent and honest information. We don’t fool anybody, which some people think is foolish. I talk about the background of our company, what it is like to be part of #TeamDecom, I zoom-in on the profile of the candidate in relation to the job and I even give the candidate a glimpse of my personal life (this varies from holidays and specialty beers to the latest drama of the Dutch football team). As you can see, I try to connect on a personal level. Smart as we are, we also do things ‘SMART’. But can the interview be done even better? Sure!
To improve the quality of interviews and also to enhance the candidate experience, all the candidates we talk to receive a digital request after the interview to take part in our satsifaction survey. We provide them with ammunition to give feedback on our interview methods (both positive and negative).
Expressed in a five-point scale, the candidate is given the possibilty to judge us as recruiters. Moreover, the survey is based on confidentiality and anonymity. This way, the candidate does not feel impeded to give any criticism whatsoever.
Practical examples
Here you can read what candidates say about us. Often we prefer constructive critisism over praise, so that we can learn from the feedback.
”Nice interview. Everything was clearly explaind and all my questions were answered. The situation with regard to parking was difficult (location Utrecht).”
”Nice conversation! Despite the late hour you were prepared to take the time to talk about Decom and to explain the vacancy in detail. Positive experience!”
”Too many uncertainties about the vacancy, the recruiter had no customer knowledge.”
”Pleasant, open and fresh conversation, great exception in this market.”
”It was a pleasant meeting, because X also asked personal questions I felt quickly at ease. Also, a second person was part of the meeting, a trainee, which I experienced as pleasant.”
”I’m glad you have selected a location that was within driving distance for both parties.”
”X was not the recruiter for the position. She was filling in for her colleague. Therefore, she was not very informed about the function. Fair enough!”
''Messi also practices daily''
Constant reflection and a self-critical attitude ensure a better experience on part of the candidate and they can help us with usefull tips to improve our interview skills. Messi also practices daily. This self-critical attitude ensures that #TeamDecom currently scores an average interview score close to a nine. No culture of mediocrity here.
Prevention is better than cure
Let’s do this! The candidate is convinced of his possible new job at or via Decom and we are convinced of the candidate. The interview has been reviewed and we became a little better at our profession again. Now it is important for us to reach an agreement on the working conditions in advance, before we introduce the candidate to the hiring manager, because prevention is better than cure. We never propose candidates before they know what working conditions apply to the discussed vacancy. The written offer (digital of course) is also confirmed digitally to us by the candidate. ”Yes, he does it!”. Again, prevention is better than cure.
"It is important to reach an agreement on the working conditions in advance, because prevention is better than cure."
It is time to introduce the candidate to that (sometimes critical) Hiring Manager. Also, it is time to fix the CV: we wrap the CV in a Decom jacket via a fixed format in order to keep the appearance uniform between resumés. No substantive changes, of course. We improve the lay-out and occasionally shift emphasis so the CV is more focused on the role and all changes are made in consultation with the candidate.
Honesty is the best policy
The profile is an important part of the resume. By knowing the vacancy inside out we can emphasize additional connections to a particular role through a personal impression of the candidate. This provides space to give extra attention to the personal and technical skills, tell something about the background of a candidate and give an impression of the personality of a candidate. After all, we get to know our candidates very well. Any bagage from the past or other point of attention? We share it with our client. Honesty is still the best policy.
Now it becomes exciting. Will our effort and our personal approach be rewarded? Will the top scoring striker actually show his skills at the interview table in front of our critical Hiring Manager? Beforehand we can only guess for the answer, but our conversions do not lie. Knowledge is power, and through thoughtful conversion ratios and BI tools, we make our entire recruitment process transparent. From the first input to the final output. In this story, from the identified candidates to the amount of those who actually get to the table with our client.
Refering to the quote in my last blog: ”I sense that data driven recruitment managers are now wondering what this brings in concrete terms. Believe me, it ensures that acceptance rates, response rates and interview rates go through the roof. Mission accomplished.”
I still dream about that three-pointer in the final minute, the sunset on that tropical island, the best Vin Santo I ever drink in Tuscany (tip: Galliofo Fattoria il Muro), but most of all soft skills that become hard skills, line managers and interview requests. I am living the recruitment dream!
''I am living the recruitment dream!''
I invite fellow recruiter who are also able to introduce 80% of their interviewed candidates to their clients to respond and share their tips and tricks. The same applies to fellow recruiters who get 50% of her or his candidates at the interview table with the client. Let’s keep sharing the knowledge and work together to ensure that the human dimension is maintained in the recruitment process. Because that is what we believe in, that’s what I believe in and what you believe in. Right?
