The CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE Means Real Business!

Welcome to TishTrek - THE JOB BLOG!

Today’s Blog is dedicated to my husband, Harry, who was laid off from AIG after 11 years. He had worked in the Global Risk & Communications Department where he managed and wrote content for several Websites which were exclusively leveraged by CEO's, CRO's, CFO's & other executives of AIG clients worldwide. His fascinating work focused on the assessment of regime stability, economics, geo-political risk, environmental issues, trade, terrorist threat levels, as well as the telecommunications, energy and infrastructure capacity of countries. This data helped AIG clients decide if it was prudent and/or safe to do business in emerging markets, etc. This valuable risk data also contributed to AIG underwriting decisions tied to a myriad of commercial insurances sold around the globe.

Like many employment candidates, my Harry spent 11 months unemployed in 2009. Two market leaders - who we both used to revere - interviewed him many times over several weeks and in both cases he was told by the corporate in-house recruiter & members of the hiring team that he was the top candidate for the job and that the final decision would be made in three days. To this day - He never got a call back or an e-mail or a letter, or a "return" phone call from anyone at either company. No one bothered to call to say, "the position was put on hold or cancelled: we went with another great candidate; or "thank you" for all the hours you spent interviewing at our company." Watching my husband struggle with this experience in our home made me more determined to become a better recruiter.

Listening to so many similar stories from all of you convinced me that this situation needed a voice, so I'm lending the situation mine:


The Candidate Experience Means Business!
By Tish Ferguson (May 8th, 2010)

Global Staffing teams and Hiring Managers contribute to the decisive difference in creating long-term and sustainable competitive advantage for businesses because without talent, no company can execute on its mission or goals! As stated in a previous Blog, it is my professional opinion that to ensure Long-Term High Performance and Competitive Advantage in the Staffing Process, Recruiting Teams should strive to mirror the Corporate Mission Statement of the Companies they are accountable to. The corporate standards in CUSTOMER SERVICE & SUPPORT for revenue producing clients should apply to every employment candidate. Here’s why…

The world class talent we compete for in any market begins assessing the excellence of all companies during the interviewing process. When Recruiting Teams operate WITHOUT a vision guided by operating principles rooted in customer service, high caliber employment candidates recognize it, (usually immediately!). These prospects for employment, potential customers and/or future decision makers of the company’s products & services warrant the same customer experience as all prospective clients of any business.

Today's advice to candidates: The next time you interview at a company, during your commute home think about YOUR CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE from the first phone call to your meetings on-site. Did you get a sense that this organization understood why YOU showed up at their office today? Do you think they value the fact that no company can achieve business development goals or create market offerings without the HUMAN RESOURCES it takes to create the Strategy and to execute the changes in Technology, Process Re-engineering, and Change Management it always takes to win!

Over the last 25 years, I worked with some of the greatest management teams on the planet. The ones who have separated themselves from all others operated with a Vision and with Operating Principles which understood that the Candidate Experience Counts and that a Brand can be undermined every time we fail in this regard. The next time you interview at a company, think about your experience and ask yourself if the company met the following high standards:

From your candidate experience, you’ll be able to tell if the Interviewing Team is working to ACHIEVE A VISION which sets them apart from other employers. Did your CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE leave you believing the company had a vision encompassing the following world class goals?


 The Very Best in CANDIDATE CARE and HIRING MANAGER SATISFACTION achieved through innovation and quality service.

 The Best “Customer Experience” in our industry as judged by hiring managers, CANDIDATES and third parties.

 The Most Effective Staffing Function in our industry managing the candidate pipeline from identifying talent to on-boarding.

 A Staffing Function trusted and viewed as a valued resource and business partner by all key stakeholders.

 Known for our leadership edge achieved by our passion for excellence in the staffing process and our commitment to Candidate Care.


Could you tell whether or not the entire Hiring Team was committed to and invested in a set of Operating Principles to ensure long-term high performance as they contributed to your first impression of their company? Did you get a sense that they lived by any of the following principles?

 Satisfy all hiring needs in a proactive and competitively efficient manner.

 Create processes that conform to high standards of quality and reliability which all their valued CANDIDATES can rely on.

 Execute with excellence. (Because we all know that Strategy can never be fully realized without flawless execution).

 Commit to approaches that are interactive and collaborative, not linear and sequential. Fuse the ownership of the strategy with accountability for execution.

 Lead by behavior. Operate with a commitment to business integrity, quality and compliance while engaging client-centric behaviors.

Then ask yourself this final question: Did the interview experience convince you of the hiring team’s commitment to quality, benchmarking and continuous improvement? If they succeeded, you just interviewed with a world class company that sets itself apart from so many others. Congratulations! I hope you get the job!

MAKE EVERY CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE COUNT and for gosh sakes - let active employment candidates know if they are in-or-out of your hiring process (ESPECIALLY IF THEY HAVE MET A TEAM OF YOUR HIRING MANAGERS IN-PERSON!) so they can close the chapter and move to the next lead.

And remember: Laid off workers caught up in a market meltdown, etc. – especially those who were not force-ranked and shoved out for poor performance - have bills to pay, commitments to take care of, and kids in college too. Everyday during the unemployed stretch, spouses and children are adversely impacted by this difficult time and I can tell you from experience that they worry about the health and welfare of their loved one during this dramatic transition & holding-pattern in their family’s life.

A good CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE is good for business. If you believe that leader behaviors count, then you already understand that when RESPECT FOR OTHERS is absent, everyone will quickly figure out that you're not a leader after all.