The Candidate Experience Starts with You!

Theoretically, your candidate’s first impression of your company comes from you. In that initial call or email, your tone, knowledge and the way you present your client/company makes an imprint So, what is it that you want to say? 

Every company has its own tone and culture. As recruiters and sourcers, it’s important for us to know the culture and align our candidate communication. Is the company you’re working for fun and playful? Then maybe a subject like “Join XYZ Company Softball Team” could work. Is it an intense work environment? Then maybe something like “Work Hard at XYZ and Enhance Your Experience As We Grow” is more appropriate.

It’s important for recruiters and sourcer to know the culture of the company they are recruiting because those are the questions candidates ALWAYS ask. If they are going to spend more time at work than at home, the feel and culture needs to align with what makes them comfortable.  

Ways to find out about culture (besides asking), is looking at a company’s website, Glassdoor, Twitter and Facebook feeds, along with their Muse site (if they have one) and any articles that are out there about what it’s like working there.   

The candidate experience in recruitment doesn’t stop with that first reach-out. It continues through the recruiting process to onboarding and beyond. When you have a new req/client, remember: 

1. Know the company and group culture well and mirror it in all of your communications with candidates.

2. Be prepared for culture questions about the workplace. Make sure there are plenty of culture questions in your intake process so that you are knowledgeable for your candidates.

3. Help your clients build and manage culture as they onboard your candidates.

4. Introduce your clients to the idea of building culture, and remind them of the importance of being true to culture and talking about it, and interviewing for it, as part of the recruiting process.

We are reflections of our company/clients, building brand, PR and feeling around our clients. We can pique curiosity, get someone interested, teach people about new opportunities and technologies, and help them along their career path. 

When you communicate along company cultural lines, you help people decide if it’s a place they want to be. When we are looking to match companies and candidates, cultural fit is #1.