Hiring and Interviewing are like Dating – Be a Good Date!
Yes, this is true even in a conservative industry such as insurance. For a successful experience, the details and subtleties are important. Please give some thought to the following with regard to insurance staffing.
THE EMPLOYER
Your organization has a reputation to uphold. Even if you do not wish to extend an offer to the insurance job candidate, you want that candidate to have a good experience. If your job candidate is ever asked about your company, you want their answer to be that they interviewed there and thought it was a great company but it just didn’t work out. This is just what you would want a person you dated to tell someone that inquired about you. What you don’t want is for the insurance job candidate to tell all about their awful interview experience where they felt rejected and disrespected. Your insurance recruiting agency can help you to create positive candidate experiences.
How do you create a good insurance job candidate experience? It is just like dating.
If you are interested in the candidate, invite them for an interview in a timely manner. If you are not interested, let them know that in a timely manner.
Provide feedback. You don’t have to go into great detail, but some feedback after an interview is customary. Your insurance recruiter can assist with how to deliver positive feedback even if the candidate is not right for the insurance position.
Make sure the process moves along at a good pace. Long gaps between interviews create uncertainty with a job candidate. Uncertainty lowers the likelihood of the job candidate making a move to your company. This is especially true in the insurance industry where many candidates are risk adverse!
Don’t make the mistake of over-underwriting. A recruiting process that is too long or contains too many interviews or assessments will ultimately turn off a good insurance candidate. After a certain point, you aren’t going to gain much more useful information. What is reasonable? For the average position, no more than 2-3 interviews and 1-2 assessments or profiles. All of this should take place within 2-3 weeks if possible. Positions with more responsibility will take longer – this is an average.
Counter offers are becoming increasingly common. Talented insurance professionals are in demand and they are sometimes reluctant to “break up” with their employer even when they are unhappy in the relationship. An effective courtship will help tip the scales and convince them they could be in a better relationship.
Don’t make an offer unless you are fairly sure it will be accepted. There are many variables that go into an accepted offer other than salary. The delivery and timing of the offer is also important. There are many things that can be done to prevent the acceptance of counter offers and other undesirable outcomes. Consult with your insurance recruiter before making an offer.
Make the insurance job candidate feel welcome. Keep in touch between the offer/acceptance and the start date. Realize that they are taking a leap of faith and provide a bridge between their prior insurance position and your company.