JobSync

First impressions matter for hiring managers, too

August 29, 2011

As a hiring manager, are you a good date?

Let’s face it, interviewing is like dating. Candidates get dressed up, present their best credentials, and hope for a connection with your company. But just as bad romantic dates in which one or both parties don’t practice common courtesy and decency can lead to surly individuals who bring their bitterness on future dates, bad interviews can similarly muck up job seeking for everyone involved.

Worse, callous treatment of an interviewing candidate may have repercussions for your company’s bottom line.

Recently, we learned of a job seeker who had an unpleasant interview with a telecommunication firm. Seeking a qualified candidate to perform copywriting for the company, the hiring manager administered a humiliating IQ test at the onset of the interview and followed it up with a writing test that junior high school students would be insulted by. The company later ignored the candidate’s follow-up email and phone call about the position. The job seeker was so irritated over his shoddy treatment, he refused to recommend the company to his wife’s firm when they were seeking a company to provide data and voice services for them. And he even posted his experience with the company on Facebook. It never went viral, but just imagine if it had.

One way hiring managers can reduce candidate bitterness and not jeopardize potential company business is by practicing the H.O.L.D.E.R. approach to interviewing. Namely, be

Honest

Organized

Likeable

Direct

Earnest

Respectful

Candidates will appreciate being treated maturely in this manner. And they may just consider being H.O.L.D.E.R.S. of your company’s products and services.

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