Part 4: Why Nurture Doesn’t Stop at Apply

Part 4: Why Nurture Doesn't Stop at Apply

Note: In partnership with SmashFly, this series covers key elements and examples of nurture in a recruitment marketing strategy. Check out parts one, two and three in the series, and stay tuned for part five on the SmashFly blog next week.

You’ve done it—you’ve worked long and hard to nurture a candidate, and you’ve successfully gotten them to apply. But your job isn’t over! Here are a few tips for turning your nurtured candidate into a hire, or at least a brand advocate who will refer other qualified leads to your organization.

Treat every applicant like a potential customer

Job candidates research companies and job opportunities after applying to your jobs, looking to gain inside information that will help give them a competitive edge. This research will not only influence their interview performance, but will also be taken into account when deciding whether to accept an employment offer.

Think of every candidate as a customer and your organization as the product or service. To give candidates the ultimate interview experience, ensure your interview process is transparent, efficient and organized. Also, be sure to communicate with applicants every step of the way—just as you would communicate with customers looking to invest in your product. Nothing turns a candidate off like “going dark.”

Although replying to every applicant can be challenging, this will pay employer brand dividends when candidates leave their own interview reviews on Glassdoor.

For inspiration for creating your own stellar interview process, check out Glassdoor’s Candidates’ Choice Awards 2015, which highlights employers across more than 40 industries who provide great interview experiences, according to candidate reviews on Glassdoor.

Offer a transparent view into your culture

To give candidates a preview of your company culture, share employee stories, videos and photos on your career site or Glassdoor profile. Leverage this prime content further by setting up a multi-week drip email campaign, proactively sharing employee content that touches on the job or team your candidate is applying for.

Know that applicants won’t wait for you to tell them about their culture. They’ll go straight to the most trusted source—your employees—hoping to connect and network with them on LinkedIn. Then pour over interview and company reviews left by Glassdoor users to scope out what it’s like to interview and work at your company.

If employees are contacted by candidates, encourage them to be transparent about company culture. This will give candidates the chance to self-select, i.e, decide if the company culture sounds like a good fit. Being upfront about what makes your organization special helps candidates decide if they would be happy and fulfilled working there. Ensuring a good fit ahead of time is mutually beneficial to both recruiter and applicant.

Another way to make sure your candidates get a well-rounded view of your culture is by responding to your company reviews on Glassdoor reviews with the “employer perspective. Sixty-two percent of Glassdoor users say their perception of a company improves after seeing an employer respond to a review.

Engage a referral program, note your Glassdoor rating

Tired of seeing declined offers or candidates accepting other opportunities? It may be less about compensation and more about company reputation, employee satisfaction or culture.

One way around this is to activate an employee referral program, which can also help you nurture candidates into hires. Encourage referral sponsors to engage with applicants throughout the interview process, a great way to keep them warm, especially if your hiring process is lengthy.

For non-referrals, another clever tactic is noting your Glassdoor company rating vs. competitors’ ratings. After all, it makes sense to leverage every edge you have.

Check in with recent hires

Onboarding is the perfect time to collect feedback from new hires about your interview process. With your candidate experience still fresh in their minds, they’ll be able to provide you useful insights.

You can also learn more about how your applicant pool searches for jobs by asking your new hires about the tools they used in their job search. Keep in mind that not all job boards are created equal:  compared to traditional ones, Glassdoor delivers 2x better applicant quality at an average 30 percent lower cost-per-hire (Brandon Hall Group, 2014).

Finally, continue soliciting feedback from new hires at 30-, 60- and 90-day intervals to gauge how confident they are that they made the right choice to join your company.
To learn more about the value of nurturing and its place in the recruitment process, read our eBook Nurturing Candidates from Attraction to HireNurturing Candidates From Attraction to Hire with SmashFly.