As the adage goes, you only get one chance at a first impression. It takes as little as 7 seconds for someone to form a first impression. In that time, a candidate may already have decided whether they like your company or not. And yes, they only have 7 seconds to make their first impression on you too… but this isn’t about them.
In the recruitment industry, we spend a lot of time advising clients on a variety of processes. What type of candidate they’re looking for, what the right budget is, whether the role should be office-based or remote, the list goes on.
While one would think budget/location are the most important things to get right when hiring, that’s not the case. The first impression is what you need to get right, as a company.
Over time, delayed processes, rejected offers, and missed opportunities all trace back to a bad first impression. That’s when it’s time to put on your best outfit and show the candidate why you two should go to prom together.
And while the argument to this could immediately be that the right candidate should do their research on the company, it’s still on you, as the interviewer, to sell your company to them as the right move for their future.
So, here’s how you get the candidate to ‘go to prom’ with you:
- DON’T start with an assessment. Don’t make them do an assessment before they’ve interviewed with your company. You want to see what they’re capable of and this won’t be achieved if they don’t even know why they’re in the process in the first place.
- DO have a conversation first. The first stage of your interview process should be conversational: 30 minutes, online or in-person, cultural-based, without too much structure. Much of the work this person will do will be loosely structured, so assessing them rigidly won’t give you the insight you’re actually looking for.
- DO make the second stage technical (depending on what role you’re hiring). By then, they’re invested and motivated to put their best foot forward. If you want a single-stage process, combine the two but just make sure to start with conversation. Buy your date a drink before you ask them to dance.
But before this gets too complex, let’s strip it down to the bare dynamics at play. There is a business need to hire someone, and it’s in the company’s best interest to extract the maximum potential from this person. Psychologically, getting the best out of this resource is the ideal outcome here. And the best way to get there is to make the right kind of first impression.
This is the difference between leaving an issue for tomorrow and staying late to fix it. Hitting or missing a deadline. Winning or losing a client. And ultimately, whether the business grows or shrinks. First impressions last, and they really are a two-way street. Get them right and you aren’t just hiring someone, you’re winning their commitment.