The JobSync Blog
Interviewing the Candidate Who is Currently Employed
November 22, 2011
Despite high unemployment, chances are a good portion of the candidates vying for an open position at your company will be currently employed. With job satisfaction hitting historic lows this year, it’s not unusual for so many people holding jobs looking for greener pastures beyond their office doors. And it’s no secret that recruiters and hiring managers prefer someone currently employed as opposed to someone who’s been out of work for a year or more.
In this delicate hiring climate, it thus becomes incumbent on recruiters and hiring managers to approach employed candidates with consideration and sensitivity. In a piece on Recruitingblogs.com, recruiter Renee Mangrum lays out the key steps companies must take if they are to successfully court candidates who have jobs. At the top of her list? Don’t waste their time. As candidates have limited flexibility and any excessive absence from the office could arouse suspicion from their colleagues, she suggests the following course of action when interviewing prospective applicants:
1. Conduct one phone interview: Be on time, be prepared, and be efficient when screening a candidate by phone. Use that one phone call to determine if the candidate will advance to an onsite interview.
2. Conduct one onsite batch of interviews with the candidate: Coordinate four one-on-one interviews with relevant personnel at the company lasting 30 to 45 minutes each. To make the process more efficient, hold the interviews in tandem, allowing for short breaks between each.
3. Make a decision based on this set of interviews. At this point, there won’t be a need for second interviews given the information the four interviewers should have been able to gather during their interviews. The interviewers should forge a consensus, and then the company should let the candidate know if it’s “Yay” or “Nay.”
Efficiency is king when dealing with employed candidates. Failure to respect their time and drag out the process could result in the best candidates dropping out and lead to a hiring mismatch. And who has time for that?
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