You are Impressive

Detoxify Success

If you're looking for a job or having a tough time filling a position, visit zarrellco.com or contact rob@zarrellco.com

People who are looking for a new job have a reason to be. Whether it’s leadership, a full plate for too long, or something else, they’re looking for greener pastures. 

The way a company handles its hiring reveals a lot about how employees are ultimately treated there. The better the experience the more likely a candidate will feel comfortable accepting an offer.

I was recruiting for a challenging role several weeks ago (as always) and managed to find a candidate who was a pretty good fit. 

The person interviewed over video. It went well.

Before I even had the chance to follow up, the hiring manager sent the candidate an email saying, “You are impressive. We want to meet you in person.” 

That’s exactly what hiring managers should be saying to and about candidates they want to offer to. It seems genuine and shows there’s a true interest there. It’s simple and sends a clear message that the company is serious about hiring and is serious about that person in particular. 

I also have other companies that will personally call their incoming employees congratulating them again and letting them know that they’re very excited about having them start soon. One of my candidates called me recently and was thrilled that they were welcomed with a call from the hiring manager post-offer. That’s the kind of energy you want a candidate to bring into a company.

These are refreshing hiring practices to see, especially when candidates have been through:

• Low offers, even after communicating salary expectations several times

• Hiring managers not showing up to video interviews, or showing up very late

• Applying to jobs or Interviewing without ever hearing back

• 6+ interviews at one company for non-leadership positions

• A variety of personality and/or technical assessments

• Setting up interviews weeks sometimes months after receiving a resume

No company is perfect and no company’s hiring process is perfect either, but there is a lot a company can do to ensure a more positive experience for employees long before they become one. This can make the difference between building lasting relationships and careers and a revolving door. 

Now I’ll let Sami turn the heat on…

Sami’s Take:

Let’s be blunt: we’re talking about basic respect. 

Way too often candidates are not treated respectfully by prospective employers. I am someone who has been on the receiving end of a disrespectful hiring process. Every time I went against my better judgement and accepted the position anyway, I found myself looking for greener pastures shortly after. 

How they treat you in the hiring process is how they’ll treat you as an employee. If they don’t have the decency to give you timely feedback on your interview, trust they won’t give you adequate feedback on your job performance as an employee. When companies fail to treat interviewers with basic dignity it is a red flag about the company as a whole. 

To me this points to a bigger problem at play with our American workplaces. Somewhere, somehow, companies took on the identity of an individual with superiority over actual living breathing individuals. The entities that are large corporations have seemingly garnered the same, if not more, rights than the human populace in the United States. They have similar constitutional protections as we do yet way more loopholes to jump through to protect their wealth and status. It’s a strange concept to value corporations at the same level of living and breathing individuals, but that is what our political landscape does here. And yet, so often these big corporations do not treat individuals with the same respect as they demand. 

Now, what does this say about the individuals that make up the corporations? Aren’t they the ones creating the entities and fighting for these rights? As I see it, sometimes, yes, but sometimes no…

As we’ve seen again and again, a lot of large corporations can be traced back to one or few owners who reap most of the benefits of said corporation's rights as an “entity”. This is where things get a little muddy for me. At what point does an employee become part of the entity versus being an individual? I guess you could ask, at what position within the company do the rights of the company also protect the individual? Does it ever? Or does it just protect the rights of whoever owns the company? 

What is my point here? I’m not entirely sure, to be honest. Perhaps I’m starting to identify where companies begin to pull apart at the seams. Where the evaluation of worth becomes skewed and individuals are not seen for their independent contributions and thus fail to receive individual respect. My take is after all about respect. 

So, maybe that’s where my warning lies- be wary of the company who demands respect for the corporate entity but fails to respect the individuals that make up that corporation. Before you enter a new workplace, see how they treat their hiring managers and how those hiring managers treat you. 

For hiring managers, are you treating prospective employees as you were treated? Can you do anything to improve upon the culture of respect at your company and then extend that to the people you interview?

Let us know your thoughts!

If you're looking for a job or having a tough time filling a position, visit zarrellco.com or contact rob@zarrellco.com