KANSAS CITY, Mo. - April 11, 2016 - PRLog -- Please note: Names marked with an * have been changed to protect the anonymity of the commenter.
After three months of hit-or-miss interviews, Sharon* was thrilled to be considered for a high-profile position at a local non-profit organization that enjoyed deep community support. She prepped for the interview by researching the organization and formulating scenarios of ways she would add value if hired.
Sharon arrived fifteen minutes ahead of her interview and was asked by a harried-looking staffer to have a seat and that they would be with her shortly. "Shortly" turned into fifteen minutes past her scheduled appointment time; then thirty minutes more, then an hour. Staff passed by as she sat in the reception area, but no one checked on her, offered an explanation or said a word.
"It was only after about eighty minutes that the marketing director came out and said they were running late," Sharon said. "No apology, really. Just 'We are running late and you are to continue to wait.'" Finally, fifteen minutes after that exchange, Sharon was asked to join the hiring team for the interview. After twenty minutes of pro forma questioning, she was thanked for her time and excused.
"They called me two weeks later and asked if I would come in for a second interview. I still didn't have a job, but I was so turned off by the experience I declined. I thought if they were that poor at managing a job interview, why would I want to work there?"
Are Bad Interviews Bad PR?
The US jobs report in March 2016 showed a gain of 242,000 jobs in February and an unemployment rate maintaining at 4.9 percent. While not incredible, it's mostly good news - the economy is on the move and there are jobs to be had. Though it's doubtful many are saying it's an "employee's job market," it does indicate there is a need for qualified workers.
That said, are employers forgetting that a job interview is a two-way street, especially in the era of social media? Are interviewing processes creating a bad PR feedback loop among applicants? Is conducting a bad job interview a real danger to the public image of a company?
"We advise our clients every day on ways to avoid damaging their brand," said Alex Greenwood, principal of AGPR Public Relations of Kansas City. "We think that kind of strategy should not only be employed in a company's public facing actions but in its internal hiring activities, also. Remember, especially in the age of social media and Glassdoor.com, employers are being evaluated every bit as much as job candidates."
Sure, we've all heard of weird job interview stories - people showing up and eating a sandwich during an interview, pouring the entire candy dish in their pocket, admitting they want to steal, etc. But what if the company was the party at fault in a bad interview?
"Companies know that filling a job vacancy is never easy, but many busy hiring and HR managers often are their own worst enemy," said Stephanie Guin, MBA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, of The Guin Group, a Kansas City-based human capital consulting firm.
"With the job market changing from one where the employer held all the cards to that where the employee does, unfortunately some companies and their hiring staff - be it HR or the hiring manager - are lagging when it comes to 'manners' of the hiring process. An interview is, in essence, a date of sorts between both parties. Companies often forget this. Both parties deserve the same level of respect," Guin added.
Even when a candidate gets a job, they always remember a poorly executed interview. Roger* had an appointment which started late because the interviewer was late from lunch.
"He left me waiting for at least twenty minutes beyond my scheduled time. His TV had March Madness playing, and he kept looking over my shoulder at the tube. I don't think he ever really made eye contact. He barely glanced at my resume. We talked for five, maybe ten minutes and that was that. I did get the job, but I never really bonded with that guy."
Dallas-based career coach and author Tami Cannizzaro has seen this often in her work with candidates.
"Nothing says 'I'm not interested' more to a job candidate than a hiring manager who arrives to the interview late with a deer-in-the-headlights look, totally unprepared to ask questions," she said. "Even worse is when they rush through the interview to make it to another meeting. Yet I hear this often from clients as we debrief from their interview. My clients are ready for the interview: they have questions to ask; they have researched the company; they are dressed appropriately, with copies of resumes and business cards. Why are the hiring managers not prepared?"
Ultimately, candidates walk away from bad interviews feeling insulted, dejected - even depressed, especially if they have been out of work and are becoming desperate for an opportunity.
Oh Nice, They Sent Me A Postcard
"One of my favorites was a cattle call interview a few years ago," said Brad*, a respected product manger and designer. "I sat in a room with about fifty other applicants, filling out all the application information that my resume already contained."
The last item in the stack of documents was a pre-printed rejection postcard. The candidates were told to fill in their home address on the front. Brad waited, had his interview and three days later received the rejection postcard he had addressed.
"It was efficient, but not the most professional method the company could have chosen," he said. "Had that happened today, you know I would have posted their postcard on social media."
Flash forward to today: what if a job candidate is treated poorly in an interview and decides to take it to the Internet? Would it matter? Would that person merely look foolish - a case of sour grapes - or could it do damage to a brand if the world knew they kept job candidates waiting 90 minutes, or had them fill out their own rejection card, or treated them as something less than human?
Perhaps the mere fact that someone is looking for work precludes them from exacting revenge on social media, and employers know it. But is it worth the risk?
"Besides doing the decent thing, it ultimately pays dividends for a company's image," Greenwood said. "People may not be thrilled if they don't get a job, but they will remember they were treated with respect in an interview."
HR expert Guin has a final word for companies about examining their hiring practices.
"Much time has been spent on training and coaching applicants how to be respectful and land a good job, but many organizations are not showing applicants the same courtesy. As a result, many applicants do not show back up for second interviews, will decline job offers, or will in general badmouth the firm that they had the encounter with."
Contact
Alex Greenwood * Twitter: @A_Greenwood
***@alexgpr.com
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