In competitive job markets like today’s, candidates aren’t the only ones who need to make a good impression. Your company must also make a good impression on them — and fast. Job seekers only spend about 14 seconds reading a job description before deciding if they’ll apply.
If they do apply and make it to the interview stage, candidates expect a positive interview experience that’s insightful, simple, and organized. Think of it as a two-way evaluation. If your interview process takes too long, lacks structure, or reveals that the job doesn’t match the description, candidates won’t hesitate to back out or ghost.
So how do you create a fast candidate-centric hiring process that leads to better hiring decisions? You use recruiting software to automate HR workflows and improve your interview process.
Want faster hiring and a better #CandidateExperience? It’s possible when you #automate tasks like interview scheduling and standardize your interviews:HR Automation is Critical for a Better Interview Process
Candidates are in high demand and unwilling to jump through hoops or wait weeks to hear from you. 62% of professionals say they lose interest if they don’t hear back within two weeks after the first interview — that is, if they don’t accept another job offer first, one of the top reasons candidates ghost. They’ll also drop out of the process if your hiring process is too long and complicated or the job isn’t what it seemed.
A structured, efficient interview process enabled by automation contributes to a positive candidate experience and gives them a glimpse of the employee experience. 75% of candidates who had a good candidate experience say that it factored into their decision to take the job. It also leads to better hiring decisions, which increases employee retention and engagement.
Here’s what candidates actually want:
- Frequent updates on their application status
- 71% want to know as soon as possible if they don’t move to the next stage of the hiring process
- Fair, unbiased interviews with smaller panels of interviewers
80% of job seekers responding to a survey said they want to hear from recruiters faster, but just 19% are contacted within 24 hours of application. Frequent communication from recruiters and a fast interview process leave even those who are not hired with a positive impression of your company. 48% of employees who are not hired want to be considered for other open positions at your company.
HR automation can remove the pressure many hiring managers feel when preparing for an interview. It means less friction for candidates, fewer mistakes due to human error, more robust talent pipelines, and a better recruitment process overall.
Automating time-consuming manual HR processes and repetitive tasks with software also reduces the administrative burden on your hiring team. Automation allows recruiters and HR teams to focus on what’s important: setting expectations with interviewees, thorough candidate evaluations, and choosing the right person for the role.
Find out how you can automate HR workflows and create a better interview experience while gaining the ability to gather and analyze your people data with applicant tracking software.
4 Interview Processes to Automate
A smooth and effective interview process requires lots of planning because it involves several moving parts — multiple participants, requirements to adhere to, and logistics to work out. Automate HR operations in the interview process to simplify planning and let your team focus on making good hiring decisions.
Automate #interview processes that are taking up too much time for your HR team, like interview scheduling:1. Interview Scheduling
Coordinating interviews is one of the most challenging parts of the entire process. Recruiters have to work around schedules for the candidate and all of the members of the hiring team. Not to mention, your team has to coordinate different interview formats that can range from 30 minutes to a couple of hours.
With recruiting software, scheduling is simplified. Your recruiters can enable self-service interview scheduling, which allows applicants to schedule their initial screening right away.
Multi-interviewer scheduling automatically navigates team availability and incorporates interview format flexibility to solve the puzzle for you. Gone are the back-and-forth emails trying to nail down a time that works for everyone involved. The scheduling tool does it all for you. It manages interviewer schedules and candidate invitations, builds complete schedules, sends time slots to candidates, and sends updates and reminders to keep participants up to speed.
With software, you can automate video interview scheduling with links that are generated for the virtual meeting platform of your choice instantly when meetings are scheduled and then shared with the interview participants. This eliminates a step for recruiters and ensures everyone receives the correct meeting link.
2. Interview Questions
Strategic interview guides provide structure and focus to your interviewers' conversations with your candidates, ensuring both parties get the most out of the interview. Questions are automatically customized to the core competencies of the role you’re hiring for, so you know the interview will stay on track, and you’ll get answers that will enable you to evaluate each candidate meaningfully.
Even better? These guides are created using our industry-leading content and information about your top performers, business goals, and culture with no heavy lifting by your team. You’re also increasing fairness and reducing bias by ensuring that all interview subjects are asked the same questions and evaluated according to the same core competencies.
3. Interview Reminders
Counter Bias with Standardized Reviews
Everyone is susceptible to biases, but during interviews, they need to be eliminated to hire the best possible person for the role. “There are so many industries that have a history of relying on the soft stuff, and the soft stuff has worked in the favor of a particular kind of individual. The truth is the soft stuff is often a euphemism in many cases for bias,” said Harvard Business School Professor Youngme Moon.
Relying on the “soft stuff” leads to the “just like me” bias, wherein hiring teams tend to select candidates that are similar to themselves, often based on likability. Standardizing your review process helps reduce the occurrence of this type of bias.
Before the interview, mobile-friendly schedules and interview materials are sent to both candidates and your hiring team. Then, everyone is prepared and has the information they need for a successful interview. It also eliminates the need for a member of your HR team to send the materials manually.
4. Interview Ratings
Rate interviews fairly with interview scorecards that provide consistent evaluation criteria specific to each role. Defining scorecard criteria upfront allows you to measure candidates objectively for fair and unbiased assessments. Results can be shared, and team notes can be added to share insights and collaborate so that when it comes to selection, the hiring manager can make a well-informed decision in which everyone involved has the opportunity to contribute their takeaways and suggestions.
With a complete talent management system like ClearCompany, your interview scorecards are built from real employee performance data. The data reveals the characteristics of your company’s top performers, which are then built into the scorecard. This way, you can be confident you’re evaluating candidates against proven measures of success for your company.
An ATS with the Automation HR Needs
With ClearCompany’s Applicant Tracking System (ATS), you can build a streamlined, collaborative experience for candidates and hiring teams alike with minimal effort. When they can automate workflows and reduce the number of tedious tasks they have to handle, your hiring team will be better prepared, better focused, and better informed so they can make the right hiring decisions.
Recruiting software accelerates the hiring timeline and makes the process as smooth as possible for your candidates. It allows your hiring team to automate time-consuming parts of the interview process, engage with candidates fast, and speed up the interview process. You’ll also impress candidates with excellent communication and a simple interview process that gets them hired faster than the competition. It’s a win-win.
Learn more about the ClearCompany ATS features that can automate your HR processes and improve your interviews. Sign up for a demo today.
