Managing your brand through the recruitment process

Who does your company brand resonate with? Your customers? Certainly. Employees? Hopefully. Suppliers? Possibly.  But what about job seekers? In a recent survey, one in five job seekers told us that a prospective employer’s brand was ‘very important’ when deciding whether or not to accept a job offer.

So how do you make sure your brand reflects your company’s values and how can you ensure that professionals respond well to it?
 

Words matter

It’s not just what you say but how you say it that matters. Almost all the professionals we surveyed (99%) think that the description of the role and description of the company (92%) influence their decision about whether or not to apply for a role. While four out of five (80%) say that the language and grammar used were a factor in their decision. 

Key recommendation: Make sure your adverts are professionally presented, well-written and that they include an accurate and interesting description of the role. Professionals prefer advertisements where the company is named, so if you omit yours, you may miss out on some high-quality job seekers.

The best professionals are likely to receive two or more job offers, and delays in the recruitment process may mean your organisation is viewed as disorganised or unprofessional, or one that isn’t fully committed to recruiting for the role.

Streamline the recruitment process

Most job seekers told us that the recruitment process was a factor in their decision to accept a role. Four out of five (84%) said that the speed of response mattered, while three quarters (74%) said that the length of the hiring process and its ease of use  influenced their decision. Most job seekers (78%) believe that the full recruitment process should take less than a month to complete.

Key recommendation: The best professionals are likely to receive two or more job offers, and delays in the recruitment process may mean your organisation is viewed as disorganised or unprofessional, or one that isn’t fully committed to recruiting for the role. However, there are certain steps you can take, such as ensuring that budgets are signed off before the role is advertised, diarising time with everyone who will be involved in the recruitment process and making decisions about who to interview and hire, quickly.

Interviewing well

Job interviews play a significant part in shaping a job seeker’s opinion of an organisation and can therefore ultimately have an impact on the employer brand. Over 90% of professionals said that key aspects of the interview such as the personalities of the interviewers, getting enough information about the role, being able to ask questions and explain their experience properly have some influence on whether or not they accept a job offer. 

Key recommendation: Make sure that staff members involved in the interview process are trained in specific techniques, such as how to ‘sell’ both the organisation and role and how to ask the right questions. This will help deliver both a consistent and positive message about your company. 

The key is not to ‘miss-sell’ any aspect of the job on offer. It’s much better that a professional decides they’re not suitable for the position and withdraws during the recruitment process than for them to accept a job offer only to resign after a few months. 

When you are scheduling interviews, it’s important to remember that professionals will have fit them around their existing job and personal commitments and they may become frustrated if they’re asked to attend what they consider to be an unreasonable number of interviews. Strong organisation and diary management will pay dividends. 

Staying on message

During the recruitment process, it is also vital that all staff members who have contact with job seekers (from HR administrators to senior directors) articulate an accurate representation of working for the business that is consistently on message. Unprofessional or negative comments of any nature, however unintentional, during phone conversations, emails or interviews, reflect poorly on the organisation and can ultimately affect a professional’s decision about whether or not to accept a job offer.

For more information on managing your brand through the recruitment process, please contact:

Jason Grundy, Country Manager (Middle East)
jason.grundy@robertwalters.com
+971 4 8180 102