Treat Your Job Seekers Like Customers

When we look at it closer, there are not many differences between job seekers and customers. After all, they are both made of people.

Huh?

Well, job seekers are not just finding a full-time job, they are also searching for a good experience, like your prospects. In the same way that customers want their felt needs met (money, energy, and time), so does a job seeker. Job seekers want to make the most money in the least amount of time, stress, frustration, and discomfort.

Therefore, companies should treat job seekers as they would customers. They must value their time and give them a positive adventure.

Here’s why:

The job market is becoming more and more competitive, and companies are struggling to find the right talent. Tight labor market industries like the residential home service could use this recalibration in their hiring strategy. Providing job seekers with a positive customer experience increases your chances of attracting top talent. Moreover, it ensures that candidates stick around for the long haul.

On the other hand, treating job seekers like second-class citizens also has grave repercussions. They are likely to share their bad experiences and avoid the company in the future as a consumer. This can cost the company good applicants, and quite possibly, revenue.

It’s important to remember that job seekers are people too, with their own needs and motivations. Sadly, even with all the HR progress we’ve made, most job seekers still don’t feel valued by companies. Here we’ll uncover the reasons behind this and discover unique ways to improve your company’s employee recruitment strategy.

But first…

What do Job Seekers Mean To Your Company?

Before we proceed, it’s important to set a benchmark first on how your company views job seekers. Are they just another number in the job market or are they a valuable pillar? Answering this question sincerely will give you a better indication of how you are treating job seekers.

Like any relationship, the one between a business and a job seeker has to be built on helping people win in a trustworthy and grateful manner. For a company, this means being transparent about your business, genuinely appreciating those who create your revenue, and helping them succeed. It also means being respectful of job seekers’ income, mental health, and personal time.

Many job seekers are already employed. However, people are often indirectly open for new opportunities when they don’t feel valued or appreciated in their current position. If a job seeker takes the time to apply to your company, it’s important to acknowledge their application. You can do this by keeping them updated on their progress, whether you decide to pursue getting them on board or not.

Always keep in mind that every candidate that shows interest in your business has the potential to be your company’s game changer. To this end, you must begin investing in talents way before they even bloom into your very own star employees. It’s important to improve your recruitment approach and it begins with a paradigm shift in how job seekers have been treated over the past 200 years.

What’s The Truth Behind Forbes’ “Job Seekers, You Will Be Lied To And Misled”?

I believe that how businesses treat job seekers could employ a little more compassion, residential home services industry or not. However, if you doubt that your employee recruitment strategy needs a revamp, Jack Kelly’s Forbes article might change your mind.

His article title says it all.

“Job Seekers, You Will Be Lied To And Misled ⁠— Here Is How You Can Protect Yourself”

The initial response I had to this stimulus can be summarized in a single word:

Ouch.

The article basically warns job seekers that companies wear a cryptic facade surrounding their business during the interview process. Some companies won’t be upfront with the income potential. Others will conceal the actual renderable hours, duties and responsibilities, and what the workplace is really like. According to the author, here are other details that interviewers are typically cloak and daggers about:

Why there’s an opening in the first place
Reasons why the previous position-holder left the company
Career path and training options for the position
What pressures surround the job description
Rooms for advancement in the workplace
What the employees are like
What the culture and environment is like

These are all necessary information to help a candidate make an informed decision. However, what often happens is that companies seemingly expect new talents to wrap their heads around the reality of the situation. An, “it is what it is” mindset doesn’t encourage job seekers to step up in their position. Instead, a culture shock impairs them to perform their best, or leave.

When left unaddressed, a business is only inviting turnover before a candidate’s work even begins. You don’t want that.

We must always keep in mind that hiring new employees is only a single step in a whole race track. There’s still the selction process and employee onboarding involved. All of which cost money, energy, and time. It’s counterintuitive to maintain the same recruitment procedure if you want to hit the jackpot in your next hire.

Why are the Majority of Job Seekers Handled so Poorly?

The thing is, this unpleasant treatment of job seekers isn’t surprising in this day and age. With technology on the rise, submitting résumés has never been more accessible. For this reason, HR managers and onboarding personnel are inundated with applications. This ultimately prevents them from politely addressing every submission that enters their radar. As a result, in the words of Jack Kelly:

“The value of an individual job seeker is diminished as hiring managers believe there will be another 10 resumes to select from tomorrow.”

The applicant-abundance conundrum is the primary culprit why job seekers are treated in that manner. However, this same argument is also why employees become half-hearted and wary before – and sometimes after – committing to companies.

“Just like walking into a used car dealership, your prospective employee is walking into the interview expecting to get scammed somehow.”
— Ryan Chute

That’s why we have to treat prospective employees like customers.

We need to understand the root cause of their worries and nip them in the bud right away. If you want vital puzzle pieces added to your company’s culture, help them win in a trustworthy and grateful manner. Get ahead of their worries and alleviate their fears and your demotivating practices like micromanagement, disingenuous praise, and holding them to uncontrollable factors.

Otherwise, you may waste a potential game-changer and a long line of otherwise successful model employees. That is, if your company doesn’t display genuine care for job seekers‘ well-being and their desired career progression, you will have a revolving door.

Proper Employee Recruitment: Questions to Ask and Answers to Give

Here’s the thing. Hiring employees is not predominantly for the job seeker’s benefit. With a solid company culture, pay and perks, a candidate may get the deal of a lifetime working with you. The point is that it’s not primarily about them. You’re hiring new talents also for your business’s advantage— there’s no shame being honest about this fact with everyone.

For this reason, proper employee recruitment should address two aspects:

Questions to ask candidates that will meet your company’s needs
Answers you give them to alleviate a job seeker’s felt needs

You need something, that’s why you’re hiring. Asking the right questions can point out who’s skillfully equipped and culturally fit to join your roster. This will also protect you from recruiting bad hires.

Here are some helpful questions you might ask:

How do you see yourself contributing to our company’s goals?
What value do you bring to the table that other candidates would not say, “me too”?
What makes you uniquely qualified for the role?
Tell me something about you that we won’t find in your resume?
Which of your career accomplishments are you most proud of?
- In what way did this opportunity appeal to you?
What did you fail to see in your current/previous employer that you’d like to see here?
Tell me how you avoid burnout?
How do you work with someone whose work style differs from yours?
What are your long-term career goals?
- How you intend to reach those goals?

Boldness is a desirable quality in a job seeker. However, it’s common for candidates to feel nervous or intimidated when going through the job application process. Businesses must remember that job seekers are their prospective customers and, as such, should be treated with respect and courtesy. With that said, answer the questions they are most likely to harbor but are too shy to ask.

Bragging about the perks and benefits of working for you won’t cut it. Only addressing their underlying felt needs will appease their reservations.

Here are some of the best answers to give:

Share the ways your company can help them grow in their career and fit into the position.
Be honest with the workplace culture, how the employees are like and the attitude of the manager or boss.
Set the expectations. The SMARTER, the better.
Explain what exactly they’ll be doing on a daily basis.
Reveal the reason why the position is up for grabs.
Disclose why the previous employee left the position.
Manage their expectations during the job interview and onboarding process.
Tell them what pressures are associated with the job description.
Inform them what they could expect or get from the company if they perform consistently well in the position.
Notify job seekers how frequently pay raises are given (or if they can expect any throughout their stay).

How Should You Treat Your Prospective Employees (Job Seekers)?

In the same way that you’re looking for an employee who can embody your company culture, job seekers are also looking for their forever career. They’re seeking workplaces that share their values and beliefs. The only way to ensure you’re both on the same page is through honest communication.

Knowing your company’s flaws will help remove a job seeker’s reservations, as weird as it sounds to disclose this kind of information. This will enable them to decide if they’re the right fit for your culture. If not, your company saves money from onboarding a bad fit. If they step into your gravity well, they will prepare themselves for the challenges coming their way and perform their best with conviction and enthusiasm.

It all begins with treating your job seekers like customers.

You want skilled and experienced talent. In the same way, you want employees that will protect and defend your happy, healthy, wealthy culture. Wizard of Sales® want to help you find these game-changers. Book a call.