How Can We Make Interviews Memorable for Candidates, Whether Selected or Rejected?

Dear CiteHRites,

I would need a few suggestions and inputs on how to make the candidates who appear for interviews have an experience to remember, whether they are selected or rejected. Can this be measured?

Looking forward to your inputs.

Regards,
Sneha M.

Attention to Detail in Candidate Experience

The attention to small details is essential to ensure that candidates have a positive experience. These could include the following:

1. Ensure that the candidate's interview call letter addresses them with the correct spelling of their name.

2. Clearly mention the day, date, time, venue (including directions), and the contact person in the letter. Schedule interviews with sufficient time gaps between them.

3. Provide the contact name and phone number of a person from the organization for any additional inputs or clarifications the candidate may seek. (Do not give the mobile number.)

4. Prepare the venue in advance for the interviews and ensure the interview panel is ready before the first candidate arrives.

5. Have a responsible person attend to the requirements of arriving candidates.

6. Ensure the venue is well-furnished, neat, and provides water, tea, etc., for those waiting. Also, keep current newspapers, magazines, corporate leaflets, or in-house magazines available for candidates to read while waiting.

7. If travel allowance is paid for attending the interview, streamline the reimbursement process.

8. If the interview process extends over lunchtime, offer lunch to those present.

While a feedback form from candidates could measure the interview process, most candidates may be biased, fearing criticism could impact the outcome. Therefore, the feedback form must be carefully designed, and the process must assure candidates that feedback and interview outcomes are mutually exclusive. Interviewees should feel confident that the feedback process is a genuine attempt by the company to improve its interview standards.

PS. Consider giving candidates a thank-you letter for attending the interview, indicating when they can expect to hear about the outcome. This could be supplemented with a small takeaway like a company keychain, pen, or poster.

Trust the above inputs will enable you to implement your plans to stand out in the marketplace.

Best Wishes

Dear Sneha M, Your query inviting suggestions about making an interview experience memorable for the candidates is unique. Although I am not aware of any proven measurement system, I can suggest a format.

Interview Experience Feedback Questionnaire

All candidates who appear for the interview should be requested to fill out this questionnaire before they leave. To be rated on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the maximum.

1. Correctness of information provided to reach the venue.
2. Comfort of seating in the waiting hall.
3. Duration of waiting (the best example nowadays is in the Passport office. They have 15-minute slots to call the people and handle many hundreds every day in every center).
4. Were the candidates given any coffee/tea/water?
5. What about the restroom facility?
6. Were the interviewers courteous?
7. Did they listen to you while you were speaking?
8. Did they allow you to ask any questions from your side?
9. Were you given any alternate position?
10. Did they clearly tell you about the time by which you will hear from them?

Depending on your experience, you can change the number of questions. You can begin with the message saying, "Dear candidate, we are happy that you have accepted our call to attend this interview, and thank you for attending. As per our company philosophy, it is our endeavor to constantly improve all our processes. Please fill out this questionnaire before you leave."

Candidates who know that they will not be selected will give you the best feedback for improvement. Please give this a try and share your experiences on Cite HR.

Regards, V.Raghunathan

Dear Sneha,
I found that 2 above suggestions very clear and useful.
My key suggestion is "Try to walk a mile in your candidates' shoes". You can find further details at Candidate experience: Do you really win at it?. It gives you some ideas on how to improve candidate experience on every single process:
- Application process
- Selection process
- Rejection process
- Communication process
Hope this helps!

The link you provided led me to a very good article. I read it in a hurry and would like to read it again. You have highlighted every bit of harassment faced by candidates by seeing through their eyes. I wish many interviewers would read this and do some introspection. Reading your article reveals that the attitude of interviewers leaves much to be desired everywhere, whether in India, Vietnam, or elsewhere. The absence of empathy from interviewers and the interviewing company is one of the main causes of this issue. However, there are some right-thinking individuals who want to be different and ensure that their own image is as important as finding the right candidate. The "I KNOW ALL" attitude of interviewers should change.

A rejected candidate is not merely a dejected person but can become a dangerous spokesperson who can damage the company's reputation if not treated well. This is very similar to an angry customer's reaction. On the other hand, a pleasant experience will generate good free advertisement, regardless of the interview's outcome.

I thank you for your post and the thread initiator who has sparked these discussions. I hope the initiator is following all these messages and will use them gainfully.

Regards, V. Raghunathan

Sorry for the delayed response.

Thank you, Mr. ACT, Mr. Raghu, and Ms. Yen Tran for your valuable inputs. This will help me create a wonderful candidate experience policy.

Regards,
Sneha M