Authors: Allison Ellsworth and Lauren Perna
We’ve talked a lot about why culture is important, how to institute it, and how to get the word out, but what good is all that if candidates don’t believe it when they come in the door? It takes candidates milliseconds to obtain a dominant impression of the company culture during an interview. Even companies on the top of the culture charts have been the center of candidate horror stories–interviews that sent someone running from the company, despite the incredible reviews.
How does a company ensure that a candidate leaves with a positive yet accurate impression of your company culture? We’ll conclude this series with a few ways to make sure a dynamic culture is translated throughout the interview experience:
- Provide examples of what makes the culture so great. They may have read about it online (yay, branding!), but in the interview share examples of the benefits, perks, health/wellness initiatives, or team building events. This lets the candidate know that the branding initiatives are not just lip service–the company truly cares about its employees and invests in their long-term well-being.
- Don’t bring the whole team. At many smaller companies, it is common for most of the team to interview each candidate. This can be a great opportunity for potential new team members to get a real sense of the organization and how they might fit in. Unfortunately, what more often happens is that each meeting blends together with the last in a haze of unoriginal (or, worst case, illegal or antagonistic) interview questions. When team members are not assigned specific behavioral competencies or talking points, a valuable opportunity for mutual discovery is squandered. The candidate can feel as though the company doesn’t have their act together. Identify the key decision makers who must interview a candidate and fight the urge to include everyone on the interview schedule.
- Be punctual and respectful of the candidate’s time. Often people are taking time off to interview, and we’ve seen many candidates be left waiting when interviewers run late or fail to communicate a schedule change. This leaves a bad taste in the candidate’s mouth and reflects poorly on the company.
- Follow-up. While most candidates know they should send a thank you email following a phone screen or in person interview, most employers are guilty of ghosting. Offering feedback and sharing the timeline for next steps once again confirms your company really does care.
Even if a candidate doesn’t end up being the right fit for the job or company, the goal is to leave them with a positive impression. That way they can spread the word to the right candidates, either through their own network or through a candidate review on a site, like Glassdoor.
