It’s a tough job market out there for employers. Full employment. Lack of skilled candidates. Socioeconomic factors starting to keep potential job seekers in their current role. Finding the right candidate can be tough.
To make it worse, many potential job candidates enter the mayhem of hiring unprepared, unpracticed, or unable to handle the basics of the candidate experience.
I have spent a lot of time, energy, and creativity over the two months or so working to fill jobs for small businesses. Even with the obstacles, some candidates still give me reasons why they will not make good employees. In fact, some of them so unique, I can honestly say I have not come across them at any other point in my HR career. Here are some real scenarios I encountered with job candidates.
Don’t know the name of your current or past employer.
I talked with a job candidate for a position who could not remember his current employer’s name even though he was still working for them. Full time. Not as a temp. He asked me to start naming off companies to see if I could name the correct one. Never did figure it out.
Tell me you are excited to work for my organization and then call me by my # 1 competitor’s name.
I chatted with a candidate for a possible sales position. During the conversation, she said she liked the role I was speaking to her about because it was with a large company. (I was talking to her about a smaller company.) As she continued to talk, she repeatedly mentioned a top competitor’s name. When I told her the name of the company I was hiring for, she did not hear me and continued telling me how great my competitor was.
Send over a 6-word email and wait for the interview.
I received an email response to a job posting that said “Hi, I would like to apply.” No name. No phone number. I responded to the email and asked the person to send me a resume or even a list with work experience and a phone number. The next day he responded with the exact same thing. I asked one more time for the information. He never responded. May he could not remember the name of his employer either.
Tell me all recruiters are bad people.
I responded to a job seeker who had applied for a job. I emailed him and told him I wanted to set up a time to talk with him about the position. He responded by sending me an email filled with swear words and that “recruiters don’t give a sh**”. I responded to him with a quick email that I was sorry he felt that way. He then responded with another emailed strewed with swear words. Guess he had a bad experience somewhere.
Whether you are an employer or a job seeker, I think you can see why these candidates would be a “No Thank You”. There are still things that won’t get you hired.
And as there are actions that won’t get a job seeker hired, there are things that employers do that scare off job candidates. More on this soon.
Employers, what is your strangest experience with a potential job candidate? Share you stories with us below or email us here. We may share them in a future blog or on social media.
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