GrowMap

Map Your Path To Grow Your Business

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • G.A.S.P
  • Press
  • Portfolio
  • GrowMap Services
  • PostsComments

Why You Need to Treat Job Applicants Like Customers

May 15, 2017 By Jessica Mouser 6 Comments

Like many people, I find the process of looking for a job to be tedious and draining.

Why You Need to Treat Job Applicants Like Customers

The last job that I really made an effort in applying to took four hours of my time, eating into my weekend and my workweek.

I made it one step beyond the initial application before I was informed that I hadn’t been selected.

However, the recruiter thanked me for the time I invested in applying. She also assured me that I was a competitive candidate and encouraged me to apply to future positions at the company.

It would have helped me if she had explained why I was not chosen. That way, I could improve (if I need to) for the next time I apply to a similar position.

But the fact that she thanked me for my time and complimented me on my strengths was encouraging. It made the rejection much easier than it would have been otherwise.

That recruiter’s behavior was a pretty good example of how brands should treat their job applicants: like their customers.

Yet many companies fail to understand how they hurt themselves when they treat potential hires poorly.

Table of Contents

  • Both of You Are Selling Something
  • Humanize Your Brand
  • Your Customers Want to Hear from You
  • Would You Treat Your Customers Like This?
      • Jessica Mouser
      • Latest posts by Jessica Mouser (see all)

Both of You Are Selling Something

It might not be natural for you to think of job applicants as customers, but this is exactly how you should perceive the people you’re interviewing.

I would have preferred not to have spent four hours on something that ultimately came to nothing. But that job application is the only interaction I’ve had with that company, and I left feeling positive about the experience.

So when I talk about that company to others, I will tell people (I have already) they treated me well. This is free marketing for the brand.

Also, suppose I want to purchase one of their services one day? If they had treated me badly, I certainly wouldn’t want to now.

I had a good experience, but many employers are clumsier about how they handle the hiring process.

Gallup reports, “[M]any companies often communicate compelling brand promises to consumers but fall short of wooing one of the most important groups of customers: the best job candidates.”

Job applicants are, in a sense, “shopping around” to find the best job they can. It is probable that they’ve interacted with your brand before applying, so they already have an impression of you.

While it’s true you’re trying to figure out if they’re a good fit for your company, they’re also trying to figure out if your company is a good fit for them.

You want to give them the best impression of yourself that you can.

Humanize Your Brand

As it does in many areas of life, emotion will play a significant role in job applicants’ decisions.

To humanize your brand, the Gallup writers recommend that when you post a job or do any sort of recruiting, you emphasize how people will feel if you decide to hire them.

Don’t simply define the position. Describe what would motivate someone working in the role you’re offering. Explain how people at your company relate to each other and what your company culture is like.

As an example, consider this hostess job ad template from job posting solution Betterteam. The template emphasizes the values the company stands for, why people will enjoy working there, and how the position benefits the employee.

Betterteam notes, “We’ve written a lot of job ads, and have learned that when they treat applicants like customers, focusing on specific details meant to sell applicants on the position, they do much better than the typical bullet list of responsibilities and duties.”

Your Customers Want to Hear from You

Despite the benefit of treating job applicants well, treating them poorly (or with indifference) seems to be the norm.Click To Tweet

One survey reports that 90% of people want some kind of feedback on their applications. But over three quarters of job applicants say they have experienced not hearing at all from a company to which they applied.

And 72% said that such a lack of communication means “they would be less likely to recommend the company’s products or services.”

So applicants want feedback, and whether or not they get it will impact a company’s reputation and sales. Yet many brands are still failing to communicate well with job candidates.

Would You Treat Your Customers Like This?

Product marketing manager Gary Dietz has had some good job application experiences. But he has also had some terrible ones.

Among other things, companies:

  • wasted his time by not telling him all the job requirements up front
  • didn’t explain why they didn’t hire him, even though he’d gotten deep into the hiring process
  • discriminated against him based on his age
  • gave no feedback on a project they asked him to make
  • asked him to create an extremely demanding project they should have paid him for
  • ignored his minimum salary requirement and then got angry when he turned the job down

Would you ever treat your customers this way?

But brands are treating their customers this way when that’s how they behave to job applicants.

As one user commented on Dietz’s post, “Every job applicant is a potential customer, referral or vendor.”

This statement is especially true given the power social media now has to spread information instantaneously and to impact anyone’s reputation for good or ill.

Be mindful about how you treat people who come to you looking for a job.

You never know how your behavior toward them now could impact your brand in the future.

Save

The following two tabs change content below.
  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy LinkedIn profileMy Instagram profile

Jessica Mouser

Jessica Mouser is a writer, public speaker, and avid reader. She is fascinated by how a culture's beliefs shape its technology and art.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy LinkedIn profileMy Instagram profile

Latest posts by Jessica Mouser (see all)

  • What You Need to Think About When Building Your WordPress Site - December 31, 2020
  • Why You Need to Invest in Mobile Marketing [Infographic] - November 2, 2020
  • 3 Easy Steps to the Best Healthcare for Small Business - December 15, 2017
Tweet59
Share3
Share11
Pin9
Share
Share
Pocket
Flip
82 Shares
« Setting Up Space Where You Can Be Creative: The Home Office
How to Unlock the Potential of Visual Content Marketing »

Filed Under: Small Business Advice Tagged With: brand building, crm, customer care, hiring, job applicants, jobs

Comments

  1. Cary says

    November 6, 2019 at 1:41 am

    This is true. We have to respect each other. This post will uplift applicants. This should be read by employers.

    Reply
  2. Sara says

    September 3, 2019 at 11:42 am

    The Recruiter behavior should be exactly like you mentioned above. I think these manners should be learned by every recruiter. I have also given a lot of interviews to find good job, and i appreciate the good communication skills.
    Sara would love you to read ..Gauteng Dept of Social Development Learnerships 2020My Profile

    Reply
  3. Optnation says

    November 27, 2018 at 4:37 am

    Wow!! I really like your blog and specially how you have connected job applicant and customers. Actually these things are really needed while they are recruited. So, thank you very much for sharing thee blog.

    Reply
  4. Addy Brown says

    April 10, 2018 at 6:58 pm

    Thanks for sharing this post.
    I’m having no experience of such thing but your article will definitely help others.
    It is really informative.

    Reply
  5. Phil Jackson says

    May 16, 2017 at 8:11 am

    Is this really 72% what have said that such a lack of communication means “they would be less likely to recommend the company’s products or services.”
    Regards
    https://www.totalresumes.com.au/

    Reply
    • Jessica Mouser says

      May 16, 2017 at 10:09 am

      Yes! The results are from a survey conducted by recruiter.com.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badgeShow more posts
You can add a link to follow you on twitter if you put your username in this box.
Only needs to be added once (unless you change your username). No http or @

Search

UPC CODES don't fall for fakes

Categories

Recent Posts

  • 10 Motivational Podcasts for the Modern Salesperson
  • 4 Ways To Improve Your Email Marketing Campaigns
  • What You Need to Think About When Building Your WordPress Site
  • The Importance of Relaxation When Starting a New Company
  • Stay Afloat: Reduce Monthly Expenses Using These Tips
Don't Miss Your Path to Growth!
Enter your email to receive new
blog posts:

Did MOZ Drop Your Site’s DA?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv_cL50MpZA

Popular Posts

4 Ways To Improve Your Email Marketing Campaigns4 Ways To Improve Your Email Marketing Campaigns
10 Motivational Podcasts for the Modern Salesperson10 Motivational Podcasts for the Modern Salesperson

Greatest eCommerce Competitive Risks to Small Businesses

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=bmlJmDYaax0

Serpstat: What it Does

https://youtu.be/rjIfKdIWk7M

GrowMap Policies

  • Disclosure Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • GrowMap Guest Blogging Guidelines

Connect With Growmap

growmap on twitter growmap on g plus growmap on linkedin growmap on pinterest growmap on facebook growmap on stumbleupon growmap on skype

Copyright © 2008-2021 Growmap · Centric Mobile Responsive Theme by StudioPress · Genesis Framework · Site maintaned By MarketingTilt

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

GrowMap
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

You can adjust all of your cookie settings by navigating the tabs on the left hand side. Read our complete privacy policy.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.