Take it from us here at YES! Your Human Resources Solution: as an HR professional or hiring manager, you’ve been lucky these past few years.  You’ve had your pick of the prize fish crammed into an overcrowded applicant pool.  With such plentiful pickings, it’s easy to forget that as much as you’re fishing for the right candidate for your company, top candidates are looking to bite for the right company.  Top talent will always be in demand, and they may have their choice of companies that want to hire them.  That’s why both the company and the candidates are on the hook to make a good first impression!  And the key to making a good first impression is to create a comprehensive, positive hiring experience.

Today’s job market is about establishing a positive company image that paves the way for job seekers to want to work for you.  In a way, you’re creating a relationship with potential job seekers before they ever send you a résumé.  Do this by developing a company brand that job seekers know and trust.  If your company has a reputation as a great place to work, top talent will seek you out!

Thanks to your fantastic company branding, once you post a position and the résumés start rolling in, don’t let that top talent roll away from you.  Remember, it’s your job to make the right candidate want to work for you.  You can do this by making the hiring process warm and personal, starting from the first phone call to propose an interview.  If the company’s representative sounds like they’re hurrying through a long checklist of applicants, what impression will that give the candidates?  A cheerful, well paced, and personalized interview invitation will make all the difference.

When candidates come in for an interview, pull out all the stops to make your company stand out as a great place to work.  Offer a beverage when candidates arrive, and do your best to start the interview on time.  Nobody likes to be kept waiting!  During the interview, be sure to let the candidates talk freely about their skills and experience.  Don’t dominate the interview with your own talking, but do discuss company culture and answer any questions they might have.  You can even take them on a tour of the facility or introduce them to key personnel.  Be sure to close with a promise to follow up within a specific time frame—and do it.

Following up after an interview is one of the most overlooked parts of the hiring process, even though it’s a crucial tool to maintain potential future recruits (and that positive reputation you worked so hard to achieve).  At the end of the hiring process, it’s easy to focus only on the company’s needs.  You hired your top candidate and all is right with the world, end of story.  Or is it?  What about those other applicants who interviewed for the job, who are left wondering if they’re still in the running or if they’re going to be left cold without even a phone call?  It’s good form for the company to notify applicants when a position has been filled, again, in a warm, personal way.  Leaving on a positive note will make applicants more likely to apply for future positions with your company, and more likely to spread a positive message about their experience.

At the end of the hiring process, ask yourself how you want your company to be remembered.  Do you want to be the shark in the tank or the gentle fisherman?  It’s easy to think only about the company’s needs and to ignore the needs of job seekers—but those job seekers will remember (and will probably tell their friends about) the subpar experience they had with your company.  Fortunately, it’s almost as easy to take the extra steps to make a positive impression during the hiring process, and to enhance your company’s reputation with job seekers.  Which impression would you rather leave?