The Psycho Ex Theory on Candidate Experience

The Psycho Ex Theory on Candidate Experience It’s Candidate Experience week on Blogging4Jobs powered by the cool folks at  Talent Circles. Check back this week to follow 25+ blogs published on Candidate Experience and follow the conversation on twitter at #thecandidate.   Being a candidate can make you feel a lot like a your Facebook relationship status changed to its complicated.  Having applied at a few of Fortunes Best Companies to Work For and making it to the interviewing process means I have been that crazy chick.  What did I learn from being on the other side of the interview table? Every client, every time no exception or excuses.  Except when you are a candidate.  Then, the required 24 hour response at this Great Place to Work had a few exceptions and excuses.  Do you think my email went through?  Did he read my email? Build Open and Honest Relationships with Communication.  I felt like a pyscho ex-girlfriend stalking my recruiter.  Oh you said you would call me back today?  Let me drive past your office again to see who else is interviewing. Its the people.  Candidates, however, are more like a pipeline than a person.  If you arent going to call when you are say you are going to call, please dont say youre going to call.  Im not complicated. Full disclosure and transparency.  Well, the only communication was the generic rejection email sent 30 days later.  I would have preferred you treated me like the last guy I dated; ignored me completely and changed your Facebook relationship status to in a relationship. Ok, so even Fortunes Best Places have candidate experiences that arent so fun.  Which makes me wonder how bad it can be at not-so-great places to work.  Theres lots of good reading on Glassdoor.com that backs up the candidates sentiments that the process is too long and there isnt enough communication.  Sounds like a relationship you would not want to be in, right? How to make the candidate experience better in case you never make it to home base? Have a dedicated recruiter whose job it is to update candidates, even if its only to say that they dont know Have a recruiter follow up post-process and ask how the experience was Include candidate experience in the Great Place to Work survey  to some capacity Tell candidates not to take it personal, as there is a lot of behind the scenes stuff going on that has nothing to do with them Like all of my past relationships, I am super happy that the companies and me didnt work out.  Being rejected is the Universes way to tell you to dream bigger and candidates need to know this.  Got any ex candidates stalking you?  Holla!