Is Your Hiring Process a Dream or a Nightmare for Job Seekers?

Remember when “candidate experience” was all the rage? It was about making applicants feel valued during the hiring journey. Unfortunately, I see most companies have shifted away from offering a personalized experience to a focus on numbers, prioritizing more resumes and applications over meaningful connections. Imagine if your recruiting process was shaped by candidate input. How different would interviews be? This guide encourages you to make small adjustments, not overhaul everything, by considering the candidates’ viewpoint. Reimagine Interview Questions Say goodbye to tricky “gotcha” questions. Instead, focus on inquiries that allow candidates to showcase their problem-solving abilities. Many feel blindsided by overly specific questions too early in the process, not to mention a string of profile assessments that can sometimes take hours. Initially, tailor your questions to topics that draw out their intangible qualities, determining first if they are a culture fit before getting into the technical minutia. Re-evaluate Job Hopping Job hopping often has a negative perception, but similar resumes can tell different stories. Market disruptions, cutbacks, and policy changes around remote work force insurance professionals to look for new jobs. If you have hard and fast rules about job changes to screen applicants, I can appreciate the structure even if I might still argue it eliminates good people. If your review is case-by-case and based on feelings, then you’re better off having a conversation with some skepticism going in than not speaking with the person at all. In most cases, I find concern about job changes goes away with an impressive first interview. ‘Job hopping often has a negative perception, but similar resumes can tell different stories.’ Trim Down Job Ads Keep job ads concise. Most insurance professionals ultimately make a lateral move in terms of overall job responsibilities, which means a lengthy job ad is unnecessary and often goes unread. Candidates want the essentials: pay, location, and firm experience requirements. Use bullet points to highlight your must-haves and eliminate clutter. This way, you’ll attract top candidates without shifting through noise. Spell Out the Interview Process When you meet a candidate, this should be your first step after, “Hello, my name is X.” Job seekers are incredibly busy, much like you are. They are interviewing other places. They have busy home lives. They work a full-time job. When you outline up front what every step will be, they become more bought in and engaged in your process. Failing to outline the process can be interpreted by candidates in two ways. One, you don’t appreciate the commitment required by them. If they start to feel this way, every request you make of them for references, applications, profile assessments, etc., will feel like a burden. Two, you don’t really know what the process will be because everything is different based on the team, hiring manager, position, etc., which is equally as problematic if they are looking for an agency they perceive to be efficient and organized. Spin a Unique Tale I could also call this section “The Hook.” It’s most evident when I work with agencies on producer recruiting because what sells to sales candidates isn’t the same Elevator Speech agency leaders are accustomed to using with other recruits. Why should a successful producer work for you and not your competitor? Please don’t say markets or client service because in 20 years of insurance recruiting, I’ve never had an agency tell me their market access and service staff stinks. Your value proposition must be less about what you offer and more about what you can do to solve the producer’s problems, which most commonly are earning potential, lack of growth, or lack of control. Topics Talent