Halloween may be over, but ghosting still haunts the virtual halls of tech recruitment.
Many candidates have similar tales: Sending an unreciprocated follow-up email, waiting in vain for a rejection letter to help close the loop, or hearing the HR claim of “needing more time” — only for the position they interviewed for to resurface — or disappear — on job seeking sites.
A recent article by Fast Company reports that job applicants are observing an increased pattern of employer ghosting, almost double the instances compared to before the pandemic. For many job applicants, the trend not only reflects poorly on the hiring practices of companies and their recruiters, but a chorus of poor reviews may begin to leach unsavory assumptions about work culture and employee treatment.
Doug Hamilton, principal talent acquisition partner at Reverie Labs, doesn’t have that problem. As an innovative pharmaceutical company using tech such as machine learning and computational chemistry to power drug discovery, his team recognizes the importance of attracting top talent in a cutting-edge field.
Fortunately, the company’s robust candidate experience is designed to respect applicants’ time while simultaneously highlighting its strong workplace culture. “Depending on the role, multiple rounds can be required, but taking too much time between scheduling next steps is unnecessary,” said Hamilton.
It’s crucial for candidates to leave the process feeling fulfilled, as positive word-of-mouth can seed the labor pool and attract other interested jobseekers for in-demand roles. On the flip side, employers can also use candidate feedback to build on a stronger recruiting foundation. “As we continue to grow, it’s imperative to take this feedback and incorporate it into our process wherever we can,” said Hamilton.
At Reverie Labs, the talent team has fine-tuned a tested recipe of transparency and genuine communication, layered with efficiency throughout the process. For a closer look at how an alternative to ghosting is achieved, Built In Boston sat down with Hamilton to see how his team casts away the spectral shadow of a subpar candidate experience.
What is the most important thing you want candidates to learn about your company, and how do you communicate it during the hiring process?
The most important takeaway for candidates about Reverie Labs is the incredible culture and an accurate portrayal of what it’s like to work here. We have an outstanding mission, career growth opportunities and challenging and exciting work. However, at the end of the day, candidates are joining a company where employees and their wellbeing always come first, where diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging is a top priority and where egos don’t exist — these are the elements that matter most. We do our best throughout our hiring process to showcase what it’s actually like to work here, and it’s something I love to cover in my initial call with each candidate. It’s important to always be genuine and transparent, and being able to rave about life at Reverie makes that very easy.
In your opinion, what are three ingredients that create a great candidate experience?
I would say the three ingredients to create a great candidate experience are clear communication, easy application and efficient interview process.
Communication includes responding to candidates when they apply, going over the requirements and salary expectations for a given role, follow-ups and updates to keep candidates in the know and transparency on the hiring process.
As for the application process, we want it to be as easy as possible to apply without jumping through too many hoops. We want to lead with a clear job description followed by a simple and easy way to submit an application.
With the interview process, I would say it’s important to only incorporate steps that are meaningful and relevant to the role itself, all while keeping the overall process as short as possible. We understand how important each candidate’s time is so we make sure to move our process along as quickly and efficiently as we can. Not wasting candidates’ time is essential to a strong candidate experience.
It’s important to always be genuine and transparent, and being able to rave about life at Reverie makes that very easy.”
How has your candidate experience changed over time, and why did you enact those changes?
We take our candidate experience seriously. We are constantly researching ways to better the process while looking for feedback — both good and bad — from anyone with whom we speak.
It’s great to be in an organization where everyone values candidate experience and wants to be involved in making it the best we possibly can. As we continue to grow, we are bringing different backgrounds and more diversity to our interview panels.
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