Post interview communication is important because it maintains the professional relationship with a candidate that you have just spent time building up.
The post interview or follow up communication is the communication that I think really needs working on. And perhaps recruiters don't know the importance of it or how to do it effectively. And this is what I'm discussing today.
After an interview with a candidate you may or may not have a good idea of whether you will hire them or not. Regardless, you should follow up the interview with a quick email.
- Thank them for coming in/ skyping.
- Be personal, note something that you talked about during the interview.
- Inform them of what will happen next and how long it will take.
The email shows you are sharp, efficient and professional. It also puts you in control as you are the first to make contact after the interview. The candidate wants to know how the interview went and what their chances are of being offered the position. So let them know that you need a few days to assess their eligibility and go over it with the relevant managers. This will ease the candidate and they will wait for you to make the next move.
After interviewing the candidate be sure to type up their answers and your notes. Store the information somewhere. Whether you have a company database or your own system of tracking candidates. This information will be useful later so make sure you have it stored online and organized.
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Discuss the candidate with the relevant managers. Note any concerns or additional questions they may have that you could follow up with the candidate. If the managers are really happy with the candidate and want to hire immediately then that's great news. Find out from them what makes them so desirable. It may be something you can add to the job post or look for when sourcing.
Once you know whether a candidate is successful or not you need to plan your next contact. When telling the candidate the good or bad news, always call, an email is not acceptable. When you have only interviewed a handful of candidates for the position it is not too hard or time consuming to take the time to call them.
If the candidate is successful then the next point of contact will be fairly smooth and fuss-free.
- Let them know you want to offer them the position.
- Let them know what you really liked about their qualifications and experience.
- Re-cap the offer to them. Official title, direct supervisors, projects, salary, start date, contract length etc. Make sure they are happy with the offer.
- Let them know how to officially accept. Do they need to sign the contract before the start date. Can they sign and scan it back to you?
- Make sure they know what to do on their first day. What time to come in, etc.
If the candidate is unsuccessful then you need to plan your communication as follows;
- Thank them for coming in and interviewing.
- Let them know what you and the hiring managers thought of their qualifications and experience. Start with the positives.
- Let them know why you decided to go with another candidate. Are they too junior? Do they not have the specific software or project experience?
- Let them know that you want to keep in contact as they may be suitable for another, future position.
- Let them talk.
- Let them know of another opportunity that you know of that may be more suited to them. It may be at another studio. Pass on the details.
- Invite them to contact you anytime to hear of current positions or to update their professional details.
Making the call to the unsuccessful candidate doesn't have to be unpleasant. Keep it positive and professional. The candidate will respect you for it. And they will remember how you handled the situation and voila you've maintained your own positive PR as well as the company's.
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