As a General Counsel do you know the effect of a badly run hiring process?

A staggering 80% of candidates say a negative interview experience can cause them to reject an offer. It is shocking to hear some of the negative candidate experiences happening in the legal market from direct applications. These experiences include the following:

• No feedback from a seven-stage interview process

• Ghosted after a final stage interview despite multiple chases

• Three times promised feedback and the date is still getting pushed back months later

• A black female candidate ONLY met white men in three rounds of interviews
• Additional stages added after being told the process was complete

If a candidate enters your recruitment process you should do your best to ensure a positive experience whether or not you decide they are the hire you want to make. There are some simples steps you can take, working with your HR Team, to deliver a great experience regardless of outcome.

Five tips for a positive candidate experience:

• Strategy: define the purpose of each stage and the timeline you can commit to deliver the stages. It is great to be able to communicate this to candidates at the start so they know what to expect
  
• Communication: keep it clear and timely. Avoid long delays between interviews as this loses momentum and creates negative feelings towards the process and can affect candidate confidence
  
• Stages and format: typically, 2-3 stages should be enough to assess the technical and human skills required. Ideally use video for initial conversations and face to face for later stages particularly if the role is hybrid
  
• Interview panel: make a conscious decision around who you are selecting for your panel. Ideally avoid having more than 2 people on a VC and 3 in person as it is difficult for the candidate to know where to focus and large panels can be intimidating
  
• Feedback: Share positive and constructive feedback after each stage. This helps candidates prep for the next stage and when being rejected leaves a more positive feeling

The interview experience reflects on you and the company brand so it is important to consider the impact of your recruitment process.

To discuss the General Counsel hiring process in more detail, or your career – please reach out to Georgia Morgan-Wynne.