5 Reasons Managers Lose Good Candidates During the Hiring Process

We are in the middle of one of the strongest candidate-driven markets in history.  Great talent is hard to attract and strong sales reps are evaluating opportunities with a discerning eye. Putting candidates through a haphazard interview process can be a recipe for trouble.

To attract the best people, managers must integrate efficiency, leadership, and a human connection into their interview process. If you are a manager and you are struggling to get the best candidates over the finish line, take to look at your interviewing strategy.

Are you falling into these traps?

1)   Taking too long to start the process - When a person submits their resume or says “yes” to interviewing, there is an enthusiasm around putting their toe in the water. That candidate needs to have some type of engagement from the company within 3 days. Anything longer and the good ones will start to question whether this is even a legitimate opportunity. This communication needs to come from a real person (not an automated email).

2)   Starting and stopping the process without communication – Great, you have completed an interview with a solid candidate. At this point, you CANNOT pull a disappearing act for more than a week without that person starting to question what is going on.  Even if you are still interviewing other people or trying to assemble a competitive interview pool for next steps, there should be weekly communication with all viable candidates on timelines and next steps.  This builds trust!

3)   No follow up communication from manager – Managers who don’t return emails or texts after interviews are sending a very simple message that the candidate isn’t that important. This a glimpse into your leadership style that can be a huge turnoff for talented reps.  Taking two minutes to reply to each person will go a long way in establishing mutual respect. This builds rapport and a foundation for a long term professional relationship.

4)   Introducing extra steps towards the end of an interview process – At some point, interview fatigue starts to set in.  If people sense that the goal posts keep getting moved, there is a natural tendency to start to question the company’s culture.  Good salespeople will ask themselves “Is this the kind of company where no one can get anything done because of all the bureaucracy?”. Managers who set straight-forward expectations on interview protocol will reduce candidate drop out.

5)   Too many interviews - If you have more than 4 interviews for a medical sales role, your protocol needs to be re-evaluated.  This includes all interviews (zoom calls and personality tests).  A bloated interview process sends the wrong message. Strong reps will start to rightfully question who is really making the hiring decision and enthusiasm can start to wane. A hiring process that last more than 30 DAYS will have the same effect.

Most top performing managers will tell you that hiring the right salespeople is the most important job they do. If that is true, then managers must take a more deliberate approach to the recruiting process.  Prioritizing everything else over interviewing/hiring is a recipe for losing good people. Managers who communicate with candidates (and their recruiter) rarely struggle with getting great people over the finish line!

‍