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Your interview process can easily be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it’s vital for quality-of-hire and screening out bad candidates.
But on the other hand, many companies inadvertently create an interview or hiring process that turns away awesome talent!
Some companies screen too aggressively, ruling out great candidates too early. Other companies may drag out the process, leading candidates to get frustrated or ghost you.
The good news? There’s a really good way to find out whether your interview process is helping or hurting your recruiting efforts – the secret shopper approach.
#1 Create Your “Secret Shopper” Candidates
The first step is to create a roster of fake candidates. Find some colleagues that you know excel in their roles. Alternatively, you can pick trusted high-performing employees from another organization. Family, friends, and former co-workers are all good options to consider.
Ask these people for their resumes, and give them fake names. Create new email addresses for each resume, and apply to your open positions.
If you want to get even deeper into the interview process, buy a few pay-as-you-go phones to test the screening process.
#2 Apply to Your Open Roles – And Your Competitors
The next step is to take your fake candidates and apply to relevant roles.
Naturally, you’ll want to see how your recruiting team responds to the candidates.
You can also apply to competitors, which can give you valuable intel on how their process works in comparison.
#3 Analyze the Results
After some time has passed, you’ll want to review your results and draw insights.
Were any strong candidates screened out based on their resume? Now is a great time to explore why that’s happening and what you can do about it.
Did you or your competitor require more interviews? A company requiring less interviews may have the edge when it comes to recruiting highly-qualified, busy candidates that are already gainfully employed.
Did you or your competitor ask a candidate to complete a big project, or otherwise jump through various hoops? Again – this may be a great way to weed out bad candidates, but could lead you to lose quality candidates.
This approach is a powerful way to provide real-life evidence of how your screening and interview processes are succeeding – or falling short!
If the problems are being caused by hiring managers, this can be a great way to demonstrate the real-world impact it’s having on your talent acquisition process.
