Given that I spend much of my day talking to employers and job seekers about their current job placement activities, I guess I hear more than my fair share of – let’s call them interesting – approaches to the process. One example which came across my desk just this morning sparked me to thinking that perhaps as a culture we are losing our touch when it comes to dealing with candidates during the application process. We had a candidate call our office in quite a fluster wanting some advice about a position which he had applied for with a local company. His feedback was that he received a job offer from them via SMS! Furthermore the SMS came through at 8am on a Saturday morning offering a substantially lower salary than had been discussed at interview. Discussing it in the office, our immediate response what WHAT? A text to offer a job? At what stage did that become appropriate? The candidates’ response was fairly equal to ours; he called us to get some advice because he had concerns about the professionalism of the company if this was their approach. Let’s put aside the time and day of the message, realistically not many people will care if a job offer comes to them outside of work hours. And in regards to the salary discrepancy, sure everything is up for negotiation. But this brings me to my bigger point – isn’t this all something better discussed over the phone? I wonder how that employer would have felt if this candidate sent a text to him at 8am on a Saturday to say ‘I would like to apply for the job’, I am doubtful he would have been taken too seriously.
The reason for all of this really comes down to preserving your company reputation in the marketplace.
So where do we draw the line between what’s appropriate and what’s plain rude when dealing with job offers? These basic rules will help keep you in good stead:
- If a candidate has made the effort to come in and meet with you for an interview, it is appropriate to advise them if they have been unsuccessful via a phone call, or detailed e mail at the very least. A generic letter just shows the candidate that you did not value their time and effort in the process.
- Candidates who have been interviewed are entitled to some feedback as to why they haven’t been successful. I urge you to use caution here and not open yourself up to any anti-discrimination actions, but certainly telling them about the experience and skills the successful candidate had that perhaps they were lacking in might be most suitable.
- If you are going to offer someone a job – pick up the phone! Even if it is a brief call to let them know you are forwarding them something more formal via e mail. It gives you a chance to judge their reaction to the offer, ask any questions of you, and will demonstrate to you their overall enthusiasm for the role. Above all it shows them that you really want them on the team, having made the effort to pick up the phone and talk to them personally.
- Advise all unsuccessful applicants. I know this can be time consuming but the benefit to your company’s reputation is immeasurable. A simple generic e mail is typically fine for those applicants who were not short listed for interview.
The reason for all of this really comes down to preserving your company reputation in the marketplace. Like with any form of customer service, we all tell more people about a bad experience than a good one, so when you next advertise a role, you would hate your ideal applicant to chose not to apply because of how a friend, colleague or family members was treated during the selection process previously.
