The best way to scare away a possible recruit

Quite often I hear from candidates after interviews who have had a bad experience of some kind.  The person they were supposed to interview with was thirty minutes late.  Or even worse totally forgot about the interview.  The hiring manager was unfriendly.  Or even worse asked an inappropriate question.  Once I even had a candidate run into someone they knew in the lobby that was also interviewing for the position.  At the exact same time with the exact same person.  Awkward!

I could share hundreds of stories like these from my ten years of recruiting, but there is one thing in particular that seems to consistently send candidates running for the door.  It is when a current employee speaks poorly of the company during the course of an interview.  Seem unbelievable?  While it should be, this happens way more often than it should.  Don't hear what I am not saying - this is not always intentional or even intended to cause harm when discussed.  It can absolutely be prevented though with just a few simple steps.

This problem stems from something more systemic in most cases.  Very few companies have a consistent process when it comes to interviewing a new candidate.  Which means they don't discuss HOW to interview a potential recruit with the internal team ahead of time.  Or they don't sit down as a team after an interview to discuss what went well and what did not go so well.  Most people are not professional interviewers, and that is an okay thing.  Your employees will probably spend less than 2% of their time ever interviewing someone else.  Which could be the question "What difference then does it make?"

The issue here is that candidates will talk after an interview.  You know the old saying - if someone has a good experience they tell one person, if they have a bad experience they will tell nine people.  So if you have no plan of action before, during or after an interview, you are exposing yourself to liability to your brand and what the market is saying about your company.  If you let a current employee interview a possible recruit and they do not have a course of action to take they could vent about a boss who is difficult to work with.  Or how the benefits really aren't that good.  Or maybe there is a lack of flexibility to work from home and this person really wants a part-time schedule.  These are all pitfalls that can be avoided.  Or mitigated if there is a better plan in place ahead of time.

One of my best clients actually has HR meet with a candidate last.  They will come into the office, interview with 2-3 people on the team, and THEN sit down with HR.  They will discuss how the interview went.  What does the individual think of the company after the interview.  What was discussed in the course of the interview?  It is a brilliant safeguard to ensure the message about their company is consistent.  Seems like a simple concept, but very few companies care enough about the actual process to make sure possible recruits are not running for the door after a bad or even mediocre interview.

Have you ever experienced something that sent you running for the door?