How to Guarantee Your Candidates Blow Away Their New Employer!

We talked recently about how important it is to thoroughly check references to avoid a disaster down the line. But just as important is to check the company is a good fit for the candidate, and to prepare the candidate properly for their arrival in the new job.

When you’ve placed the right person with the right company, everyone’s happy, and that candidate will slot into the business seamlessly and make a great impression from the first day. As a recruiter, that good impression will reflect well on you.

However, if you push a candidate into a position where they don’t naturally fit – such as a job they’re uncertain they really want, or in a company culture that doesn’t fit with their personality, nobody is likely to be happy long-term with the outcome. (Remember that this includes you, as in this job market a dissatisfied candidate can just quit and go elsewhere- and you’ll have to return that lovely placement fee.)

So do your due diligence and research as much as you can about the company and the culture, and match that as well as you can to the candidate’s personality and expectations.

Once the right candidate has been chosen, it’s just as important that they are properly prepared for their arrival at their new job so they can make a brilliant impression in the first few days.

How to prepare your candidate for their first day

-Provide them with all the company material- company structure etc, and strongly advise them that they read it before their first day. Provide links to the company’s social media page and key player’s LinkedIn pages.

-Find out the dress code from the hiring manager and let the candidate know.

-Provide the candidate with directions to the office, and advise them to do a trial run on a day with bad traffic… and then add on at least 10 minutes for good measure. Impress upon them that lateness in the first week of a new job is devilish hard to come back from when it comes to good impressions.

-Find out on their behalf if the candidate will need any forms of ID on their first day, whether to get an employment or access card made.

-Establish what the starting time is, and who they should report to on arrival.

-Finally, make sure you’re in contact with the candidate in the lead-up to their first day. Wish them luck, ask if they have any questions (even ‘silly’ ones), and assure them you’re here if they need any assistance.

All of this may seem to some like hand-holding (after all, doesn’t everyone have google maps these days?), but all these things can really help your candidate make a brilliant impression in their new job. You might want to think of it as holding your own hand, because if your candidate succeeds, so do you.

Until next time

Cheryl