3 Reasons Candidates are Withdrawing After the Interview

Onboarding talent, in the midst of the other zillion pressing things that need to be done yesterday, can oftentimes feel like a third job. You’ve got a team of people looking to you for direction and leadership; a sales meeting you’ve got to prep for, not to mention that huge IDN deal you’ve just secured (and now need to implement). Where does interviewing & onboarding fit in, in an already bloated schedule full of competing priorities? And how do you attract talent and keep them engaged throughout the process?

Hopefully, if you’ve got a strong recruiting partner & an equally strong employer brand, that first step of attracting talent shouldn’t be that difficult. But just like the iconic comedian Jerry Seinfield shared during a frustrating stop at the car rental desk, “Taking the reservation isn’t the hard part, you’ve got to KEEP the reservation. Anybody can take it. You’ve got to hold on to it, that’s the important part.”

Talent is no different, you’ve got to hold onto it. So without further adieu, here are the top 3 reasons why your candidates are withdrawing after the interview.

1. You aren’t recruiting them. But the skeptic says, “Recruiters recruit, Hiring Managers hire”, right? Wrong. Hiring Managers, if they want to be on the podium, do it all. The most successful hiring managers make recruiting a top priority. Their methodologies make it clear to all who are watching (ahem…candidates), that making this crucial hire is their #1 priority. They budget time in advance for interviews. They conduct due diligence on the candidates they’re going to interview. They take the time upfront to understand what the candidates’ possible pain points are before the interview. They believe that the interview process is a two-way street, and that the most elite talent may not be begging to work for them – that they may actually have to do some selling (!!). 

2. You aren’t addressing their pain points. Unless you’re planning on picking off low hanging fruit who aren’t employed, you’ve got to get inside the heads of the people you’re interviewing. Most of them will likely be employed, with good jobs where they are doing fairly well. Few people make lateral moves, and I’m not talking about just compensation. You’ve got to really know what unique opportunities your employer offers, what makes them desirable, how attainable they are; you’ve also got to spend time learning what the candidates’ pain points are. Don’t know? Ask your recruiter, they will absolutely know. When you understand what their pain is, that’s when the interview can go to new levels.   

3. You aren’t moving fast enough.  Elite talent does not stay on the market for long, they are typically being recruited by multiple companies, simultaneously. Ere, an industry-leading talent acquisition site, touts that the top 10% talent in the industry, will only be on the “market” for about 10 days. You’ve got to listen to your recruiter – when they begin pressing you to start the process (or finish it), that means they’ve got great talent, and that great talent probably won’t be waiting around for weeks while you finish putting out all your fires. When you know you’ve got your “person”, you need to remove any and all obstacles that may create a bottleneck in the process. You have to think ahead, get other influencers to budget their time in advance so that your interview process runs as smoothly as the soup Nazi’s line (without George in it, of course…no soup for you!)