Think Differently: Think Like a Candidate
A change of perspective can be what you need to transform your recruiting. Today we'll start a new series focused on helping you reshape your perspective. Today, let's think like a candidate.
[Transcribed from the video above]
Have you ever had 1 of those times where you start a podcast and realize that your levels are way off. Yeah, just did that hey everyone welcome back to the transform recruiting podcast I am Brad Owens your host. And today I want to start a little bit of a new series here on the podcast. We're going to call it think differently just ideas that are going to transform the recruiting industry that I'm starting to hear from a lot of the individuals that I work with and a whole lot of the larger companies that are focused on changing the game for recruiting so today. Think differently think like a candidate so let's focus on that candidate experience the digital experience the in-person experience the experience with you as their their guider as their shepherd of their career. So as a candidate today. Let's think about the experiences that they're dealing with. They're dealing with the door dashes. They're dealing with the amazons they're dealing with the ubers they are dealing with 1 instant access to instant response three they're dealing with the utmost in transparency. Think about all of these different here I'm not going to go specifically to that one. Yeah let's go. Let's walk through these so first. They're dealing with instant access. So whenever they want access to something they know exactly where to go to get it. It's the same place every single time they don't have to rely on anyone else to get it.
01:32.40
Brad Owens
They have access to it whether it's through their app whether it's through their website whether it's through an email that they've got the automations that are coming to them all of that is happening on their schedule so when they want it, they've got it when they want access to where their shipment is. Anyone else like me when you get it get some big thing. Ordered you keep that your product has shipped in your inbox and then you just click like once twice a day where is this thing where is it when am I going to get it. You get that access. You get to see when it's coming. Where's where it's at currently. I love that thing and Amazon even takes it to the next level and they say if they ship with Amazon you can see where it's at in your neighborhood. How many stops away that's incredible. That's the kind of experience that candidates are going to want from you. There cannot be and I will if this was written. Or if you go to the post on praderwins dotcom. Ah underline bold gigantic font. There cannot be any anymore. Black hole. The application black hole that we're all used to if we apply to a job and then we don't hear anything back. I personally here's my big aha moment my vulnerability for you all when the company that I was leading an internal recruiting department for lost their largest investor and we had to do a large round of layoffs.
03:02.51
Brad Owens
It's very weird because I was a part of that and I was working alongside the vp of hr to actually conduct these layoffs so I essentially signed my own papers to let go which is weird but I had been a force in the human resources community here in Northeast Ohio for a number of years. I applied to 64 different jobs here in Northeast Ohio they were all in that space. They were all in the human resources space I got 2 calls back. Ouch I got 2 responses I had been a fixture in the industry. Here in Northeast Ohio I had applied to 64 different jobs nothing that was a low moment for the it really was and that was all comes down to just the black hole I would have been fine with nose because I knew someone would have looked at it. And likely that person I knew because I had done something with them. So like that black hole cannot happen. All of us have had that apply to a job experience and gotten no response whatsoever whether you've seen your kids do it whether you yourself have done it whether you've heard friends that have done it. It's a nightmare and people are. Organizations are getting absolutely fillayed on places like glassdoor for not responding candidates want that kind of experience so think differently think like a candidate now. They also.
04:31.91
Brad Owens
Have these experiences for not only this this black hole this they have access to whenever they want. They also have that single source of truth of the place they can go for those updates if we want to see what's going on with our Amazon shipments. Where do we go Amazon. If we want to know where our food order is from doordash where do we go door dash if we want to see where our uber driver is where do we go the uber app and it's always there for us. It's that reliability of exactly where we stand in the process right? So not only do we have. Access to the data we have that single source of truth of where to go for it. So if you haven't invested time if you haven't invested resources into creating that complete digital experience for your talent whether it's talent you already have employed out there if you're a staffing organization or if it's a full-time recruiting gig. Or if you've got positions lined up for someone that is potentially on your bench. Everyone that has something to do with talent at your organization should have a single source of truth and it should not have to be a person that they call on the phone. it shouldn't if it is you're wasting that person's time to make the call you're wasting the person's time that they call so your recruiters that could be making calls and making money aren't so I'll just ah I wanted to keep this under 5 minutes I'm mar at 6 so what I will say is there are 2 key takeaways here to think differently think like you can't be.
06:02.98
Brad Owens
They want complete transparency up to the second updates they want access to that and they want it in a single source. They don't want to have to call someone. They want access on their terms. Where they know where to go where but what I'm trying to say with this they want access the very second that they want that information they need access to it and they need to know where to go to find it. That's it and they need those updates and they need that transparency. If you can provide that for your talent you will be heads and tails above this industry because no one is doing it. No one I have seen it I have seen these largest organizations in the world I have seen the startups. No one is providing this experience. Same experience that we get from every single other one of our vendors. We don't get from the people that are helping us feed our family by finding new jobs. We need to do better at that think differently think like a candidate there'll be more of these think differently episodes coming up soon I wanted to keep them short to the point. Just. Get out there what we could be doing differently as an industry I am Brad Owens this is the transform recruiting podcast. There's more of these if you go to transform recruiting dot com you can also send me an email at hello@Brad Owens.com if you got anything you'd like me to ramble about until next time y'all I will see you on the next episode of transform recruiting.