Hiring Managers: Your New Title Is Brand Manager

Whether you like it or not, hiring managers, your responsibilities include brand management. This concept is never more crucial than during the hiring process. As a hiring manager, you are a representative of your organization. Each interaction with candidates (over the phone, in person or via email) leaves an impression no matter what. If handling the hiring process with this level of accountability sounds challenging, I would suggest you remain in a lead role until you feel up to the challenge.

The hiring manager must take ownership of the hiring process and responsibilities. How would you appreciate being treated? There are three major points of the process where you (the hiring manager) can win by giving a great impression of yourself and your organization:

1. People Hire People, Not Paper (Resumes)

Common Tendency: You see an impressive paper pedigree. The candidate has a solid computer science education, uses good buzzwords and name brands, has experience with start-ups and big companies, and it is one to two pages in length. Perfect! You put in the call and immediately realize the resume made the candidate much more exciting than he or she now seems on the phone.

Insight: Most hiring managers feel confident in their ability to identify communication skills, technical knowledge and career search mindset from a ten-minute phone call. People tend to light up and give good energy when connecting with a solid candidate and remain stoic and disengage quickly from a weak candidate. I have interviewed over 4,000 technical candidates in the past three and a half years and I have realized that candidates can sense and feel it when you disconnect. They would not mind if you gave them a quick explanation why they are not a fit, instead of the age-old, "We’ll get back to you." Candidates know they will never receive further information and, on the rare occasion they do, they will only get an automated email containing no constructive feedback.

Improvement: Ideally, you should have a trusted source who understands business and technology handling that first round phone call for you. The first call should have the ability to highlight the organization’s attractive qualities and educate, prepare and interest the candidate. Then your first in-person interaction can be a short on-site meeting to cover culture and high-level technical details before introducing a candidate to the team. Their time on the production line is valuable so let them know you appreciate them.

2. On-site Interview

Common Tendency: If you hit it off from the get-go, the conversation will carry itself and the candidate will get a full tour of the place and be escorted to the front door or even outside. Conversely, a culture misfit will experience an abrupt conclusion to the interview, a point towards the exit and a friendly wave (instead of a reassuring handshake).

Insight: Human resources and internal and external recruiters prepare candidates for the interview process based on information given by the hiring manager himself. If a candidate goes in for a three-hour interview and it does not go well, they will experience an abrupt end halfway through because of some candy-coated reason why the next interviewer could not make the time even though in some cases, specific scheduling of said interview was leveraged on that one’s ability to make a specific day/time. Some interviewers will go as far as to say, "We will see you back here soon," knowing that will not be the case.

Improvement: Keep face-to-face interviews short to allot an extended period for on-site meetings with the team. During the meeting, treat every candidate with professionalism and interest. Not every candidate will be an appropriate fit, but don't burn any bridges. You never know when you or your organization will cross paths with that person again, or whom they will affect directly or indirectly.

3. Follow Through Constructively

Common Tendency: If the interview goes well, an update giving positive feedback and outlining the next steps immediately follows. If it does not, there will be either no feedback at all or a general closing statement by email.

Insight: The candidate took the time to prepare and interview. Your job as an interviewer is to assess their ability to address a business need and fit into the culture. Maybe after a phone interview, on-site meeting or full interview process, you have to tell the candidate that it is not a good fit. Most hiring managers provide no additional information beyond a simple "no." Next time consider extending some constructive feedback or explaining the logical reasoning behind your decision.

Improvement: Be honest and transparent the moment it becomes obvious that the candidate is not a good fit. Only tell them you are taking time to decide if it is true. Follow up with constructive feedback within 48-72 hours and be clear.

Every candidate deserves the same level of kindness and professionalism, or social media (Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, etc.) will hear about it.

Comments

[Ryan]

Well done Tim

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