The Changed Candidate Experience Is the Next Big Thing

In this episode with MRA Vice President of Workforce Strategies, Jim Morgan, we begin the employee experience conversation by talking about how the candidate experience has changed, and how organizations need to adapt to that change! We cover the initial candidate contact point, interview best practices, and individualizing your candidate process.

Listen to Discover:

1. Leading up to the pandemic, we were starting to see the labor shortage. And now coming out of it, it is here in full force.
2. It's a shift in mindset: As much as organizations might want to say, "Oh, you're lucky to have a job with us", the truth is that's been turned around. And so it's "We'd be lucky to have you."
3. Have someone go through your candidate experience, whether that's you, your kid or just an employee. Know what the process looks like.

Bios:

Jim Morgan, Vice President, Workforce Strategies

Let's Connect:

Jim's LinkedIn Profile

Transcript:

INTRO | 00;00;00;03 - 00;00;23;04
Hello, hello, everybody, and welcome to 30 minute THRIVE, your go-to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA - The Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever-changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here. Now, it's time to thrive.

Sophie Boler | 00;00;23;18 - 00;00;46;27
Hello, everybody. I am here with Jim Morgan. He's our Workforce Strategies Vice President here at MRA. And a lot of you are probably familiar with Jim already, as he does a lot of traveling on the key points of the talent shortage issue. And he's really been working on this issue for the last 30 years, which is pretty impressive.

Sophie Boler | 00;00;47;22 - 00;01;02;12
But Jim really makes organizations take a step back and think about their candidate experience plans and how they should be adapting to the current times. So thanks for joining me on the show today, Jim. I'm really excited to talk about this issue.

Jim Morgan | 00;01;02;21 - 00;01;04;24
It's my pleasure to be in front of MRA Nation.

Sophie Boler | 00;01;04;28 - 00;01;18;16
Oh, of course. But I think we'll just dive into the first question and really talk about the candidate experience as a whole. So could you just tell me what candidate experience means and what it all includes?

Jim Morgan | 00;01;18;20 - 00;01;40;13
Sure. You know, really, as you're trying to find talent, that begins with the first contact that you have with whomever your candidate might be. And so companies are spending a lot more time now from that first contact until the moment that they offer them a job and they hire them. Everything that happens between that first contact and the first day of work is really the candidate experience.

Jim Morgan | 00;01;40;26 - 00;02;04;01
And we haven't had to really think about that in the past because if we had 200 people applying for a job, we just zipped them through and we took the best one possible. But now when you can't find anyone and you're in this competitive marketplace, that candidate experience really becomes a big deal. So if I'm trying to hire you, I want to make sure that from the moment we meet right up to when you start that you're thinking "this is a cool place to work.

Jim Morgan | 00;02;04;01 - 00;02;22;06
And they seem like good people to work with. This is the kind of place I could see myself at." So it's become a new, new thing really for employers. I'd say, you know, leading up to the pandemic, we were starting to see the labor shortage. And now coming out of it, it is here in full force. So that's become kind of a big deal for us.

Sophie Boler | 00;02;22;12 - 00;02;30;11
Absolutely. And I mean, well, it seems to me that there have been candidates for as long as there have been jobs. So can you tell us what's really different?

Jim Morgan | 00;02;30;11 - 00;02;45;06
Yeah, and that's a really good point. People like well, you know, we've always been able to give candidates and give people a start. But I think the world has changed a little bit. So I'm going to stump the host here and turn some of these questions back on you a little bit. But okay, so you're looking for your first job. Where are you looking? How are you finding out, "hey, where do I want to go next?"

Sophie Boler | 00;02;50;16 - 00;03;02;27
My first instinct would be to go on Google and search up the company I'm looking for, kind of take a look at their website, learn a little bit more on the company through their social media and website.

Jim Morgan | 00;03;03;08 - ...