"You never get a second chance to make a first impression."
Posting date:
19 Dec 2019
We wouldn’t attend a job interview and not worry about the first impression we give to our prospective employer. We dress accordingly, speak accordingly and really think before we answer those dreaded questions in a bid to appear to be the perfect professional and a great culture-fit.
We are so concerned about that very first impression that we become nervous; as if we are on a blind date, desperate to come across as desirable and desperate to make a great first impression because we know there’s no second chances.
We all do it, no matter what the scenario but despite it being a human reaction to meeting someone for the first time - it seems to be the area where businesses are falling short.
While every candidate is keen to make a great first impression, they are also making their decision on the first impression they get from you. From that very first conversation, they will be making their judgement on you as an organisation and measure their candidate experience in the same way you are measuring their potential and unfortunately, it doesn’t always match up.
Virgin Media recently calculated that they lose more than $5.4 million every year from poor candidate experiences and if that’s not enough to convince you that the candidate experience is everything, you also have to contend with the fact that disgruntled candidates can boycott your company in their personal life and offer you a bad reputation to others within the same talent pool.
Aside from the negative implications of not offering an exceptional candidate experience, there are plenty of positives to offering a great first impression. You are not only more likely to have your preferred candidates accepting your job offer but they will then refer other high-grade candidates to help your business grow and build an external and internal reputation for you, as a great place to work.
I believe it is the simple most important part of any interview process – do you see the importance of it too? I’d love to hear your stories about candidate experience. Have you recently been wowed by a great first impression, or, have you turned down a job offer due to a terrible first impression?
