Don't let talent slip off the hook during your interview process!

Don't let talent slip off the hook during your interview process!

Is your charity doing all it can to snap up the best talent? In this ultra-competitive recruitment market, your hiring processes need to work even harder. Jamie Reynolds of Marble Mayne Recruitment shares some sound advice.

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The post-pandemic recruitment market is a challenging one. A shrinking workforce, caution around moving jobs, and the number of vacancies outweighing the number of candidates have all contributed to a challenging environment for charities and businesses to recruit over the last couple of years.

At the time of writing this article, statistics show that there are over 50% more vacancies now than before the pandemic. With the number of vacancies available, the competition for talent is fierce.

As charities are often not able to compete on salary versus other sectors, it is imperative that they look at ways to streamline their hiring processes and keep candidates engaged throughout to avoid losing out on the best talent.

Candidates disengaging during the interview process

Things like the initial application process and creating a compelling up-front value proposition are important components to keeping candidates engaged in the hiring process. However, research suggests that around 40% of applicants disengage with the hiring process due to interview delays, so this needs to be recognised as a crucial area to spend some time honing, to avoid losing those top candidates.

As with most things today, building flexibility and agility into the interview process is key. Here are some suggestions on how charities can keep candidates engaged and reduce the risk of losing candidates during the interview process:

Speed up the process

There is an adage in recruitment that ‘time kills placements’. Elongated and slow interview processes often result in candidates wondering how interested the employer really is and it gives them time to interview for other roles that they may have not previously been considering. Use of a scheduling tool can help candidates to book in their own interviews and may be worth considering.

Condense the process

Consider condensing multiple interview stages into one stage. Is there really a need for a two to three stage process? A single stage interview can really help focus candidates in terms of preparation. It can also aid decision-making for the interview panel; making a judgement call on the back of a single, thorough interview can be easier than trying to collate feedback from multiple stages spread over days or weeks.

Be flexible

You may prefer to have a face-to-face interview, however consider switching to a remote interview if it prevents a good candidate dropping out due to availability to attend in person. Another option is to consider ‘out of hours’ interviews at evenings or weekends. This can be particularly helpful for candidates who are expected to take annual leave, call in sick or make up an excuse just to attend an interview that they may have a small chance of being successful in. Rewarding or remunerating your staff who are conducting these out of hours interviews often works well.

Emphasise your value proposition

Throughout the interview process you should continue to emphasise your organisation’s value proposition. Your charitable cause, clarity around salary, the benefits package, flexible working arrangements and career development opportunities should all be continually emphasised even during the interview stages. It’s a two-way street and you want to keep desire levels up when they are likely to be interviewing for more than one position, particularly in the current market conditions.

Treat candidates like customers

Avoid giving candidates a grilling during the interview process and making it all about a skills or competency fit for the role. This can be an easy trap to fall into, particularly with technical roles such as finance. However, it is important to ensure candidates have a good experience when interviewing. You never know when your paths might cross again, or what they will say to people if they don’t.

Outline a clear onboarding process

Try to be transparent and accurate about start dates and turnaround times for paperwork. Lack of clarity around this can put candidates off and contributes to drop-out rates during interviews.