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Improve Your Candidate Experience and Save Money at the Same Time

Improve Your Candidate Experience and Save Money at the Same Time

There’s good news and bad news. On one hand, your company is growing rapidly. On the other, you need to find top new talent. And trying to do that quickly can lead to enormous hiring costs. But what can you do? If you don’t spend the money, you risk losing top talent. And all around your candidate experience will suffer, right?

Wrong.

There are ways a fast growing company can create an awesome interview process without letting costs get out of hand. You just need to know how to streamline the process without it negatively impacting candidates.

Here are some tips from hiring professionals on how to maintain a great candidate experience while your company is expanding:

Skip expensive job boards

Improve Your Candidate Experience and Save Money at the Same TimeCompanies often think to find a large number of candidates, they need to cast out as many nets as possible. So they post their job listing on every job board they can find, even the ones that cost.

Considering there are hundreds of job boards nowadays, this can get expensive.

“You can utilize free online resources such as social media — LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.,” Christopher Wilding, CEO of Wilding Consulting Inc., said. “Career fairs, contacting local universities, and other hiring events are also available for affordable to no cost at all.”

Social media especially improves the candidate experience. Instead of spending hours surfing job boards, talent can find out about your open jobs just by looking at their newsfeeds. And since they’re already on these sites, it saves them time and you, money.

But, do keep the focus on quality over quantity. Consider what other types of jobs get listed on a social platform you’re considering. If they require a similar set of skills and experience level as your open roles, it’s more likely you’ll attract qualified candidates.

Invest in internal recruiting

Improve Your Candidate Experience and Save Money at the Same TimeAs the company grows, don’t forget about the employees who made that possible.

“We implemented a new internal recruiting system that allowed us to spend less time reviewing applicants and more time speaking to those who are qualified for the position,” shares Robin Schwartz, a PHR at MFG Jobs.

“The application process is simple for the candidates and the system keeps them informed of their progress in the process — whether they weren’t selected, recommended, etc.”

A streamlined process like this saves time, which of course saves money. Since these candidates already know your company and culture, the likelihood of new hire turnover decreases.

Remember, with the company growing, you still need to fill new roles. Use those same invested employees to find referrals.

Eliminate panel interview

Improve Your Candidate Experience and Save Money at the Same TimeYes, panel interviews bring a varied perspective of candidates. But you’re paying for the time of each hiring manager in that interview. Also, candidates prefer one-on-one interviews.

“You can cut costs by reducing the number of people involved in a single interview step and instead move candidates through each person individually,” recommends Brad Owens host of the Small Business Hiring podcast and hiring and retention expert at hrcoaching.com.

“If the first interviewer sees a red flag with one candidate early on in the process, all of the other individuals don’t have to waste their time — and your money — interviewing them.”

Another option is using one-way video interviews. These quick recording only take a few minutes to review. Then everyone can view them and give their input before the candidate moves on to the next step of the hiring process.

How are you cutting hiring costs while maintaining your candidate experience? Let us know!

Josh Tolan

Josh Tolan is the Founder and CEO of Spark Hire, a video interviewing platform used by 6,000+ customers in over 100 countries.