Latest news with #hiringprocess
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
To Humanize The Hiring Process, Start With These 3 Elements
Sherry Martin is a holistic human resources leader with expertise in delivering strategic solutions that solve organizational challenges. The job market has dramatically shifted in the digital age, especially since Covid-19. Online applications, automated screening tools and virtual interviews have, without question, brought efficiency to the hiring process. In this drive for optimization, have we inadvertently lost something crucial: the human element? How often do talented individuals feel their carefully crafted résumés vanish into a digital void, their aspirations reduced to keywords, ultimately eroding their dignity and respect? The feeling of being a cog in the machine is widespread, especially when being ghosted after an interview is becoming a common experience. While navigating my own career transition, I saw just how impersonal the process can be and attended job seeker workshops where others expressed similar frustrations. When people invest substantial time and emotional energy into job applications, the absence of personalized feedback or even simple acknowledgment can be deeply disheartening. According to Greenhouse's 2024 State of Job Hunting report, 79% of U.S. job seekers, particularly Gen-Z, feel anxious about the market. This harms both the candidate's experience and employers' reputations. It's time for organizations to consciously bring back humanity into the hiring process and recognize the unique person and story behind every application. By making this shift, you can showcase your company culture from the beginning and shape how your brand is remembered by all candidates. Recruitment shouldn't feel transactional. To establish a human-centered approach, build your hiring practices around three key pillars: transparency, respect and genuine engagement. Transparency should be foundational to the entire hiring process. It shows respect for candidates' time and empowers them to make informed decisions. Being clear and open also builds trust, promotes fairness, reduces anxiety and ensures expectations are aligned from the start. Job descriptions are the initial—and crucial—point of contact and information for prospective candidates. So, they must be upfront. For example, instead of vague terms like "competitive salary" or overly broad salary ranges (e.g., $50,000 to $200,000), providing more-specific compensation figures (e.g., $70,000 to $85,000 annually) avoids disappointment and wasted effort on both sides. You should also highlight specific offerings in your benefits package because that's essential information for candidates' ability to make informed decisions. Transparency also means sharing the details of the hiring process, such as how you conduct screenings, who will be involved in each interview and the expected timeline for each stage. Setting these expectations significantly reduces candidate uncertainty. So, during initial contact, briefly review these hiring steps. You can also reiterate the salary range and offer to discuss benefits, which reinforces your company's commitment to open communication and respect. The interview process is a crucial touchpoint, so create an experience that's both informative for the hiring team and worthwhile for the candidate. For example, providing a few key interview questions in advance allows them to prepare thoughtfully and showcase their abilities effectively. This demonstrates respect for their time and sets up the chance for a more meaningful conversation. Humanizing the hiring process also means looking beyond traditional career trajectories and recognizing the value of diverse experiences and transferable skills. Thoughtful in-the-moment questions can help gauge adaptability, problem-solving skills and cultural add. For example, I was recently asked in an interview, "If hired, what would you need from your manager to be successful?" This question moved the conversation beyond past accomplishments, focusing instead on future success, support requirements and the potential for a collaborative working relationship. Post-interview communication is as crucial as the interview itself for showing respect and care. Impersonal automated rejection emails can dehumanize candidates, particularly because they often provide no explanation. Consider offering the option for a brief, follow-up phone call. This empowers candidates by giving them the choice to receive feedback and continue engaging with you. It also reinforces that you prioritize a respectful candidate experience that acknowledges their effort, communication preferences and desire for closure. Constructive post-interview feedback, even if it's concise, can be invaluable for a candidate's professional growth, and it demonstrates that you took time to understand their candidate profile. To put this into practice, focus on one or two job-related points that can aid the candidate's future development. Beyond feedback, a personalized thank-you note reiterating your interest or respectfully closing the loop leaves a positive final impression. This way, you create a positive candidate experience that can turn even those not selected into future customers, advocates or even future employees. The impact of a human-centered hiring approach extends far beyond filling open positions. It shapes perceptions, influences talent pools and contributes to a more positive, equitable professional landscape. By treating candidates with respect, embracing transparency and developing genuine communication, we can move beyond a purely transactional model and build meaningful connections. Ultimately, reclaiming the human element in the job market is an investment in a more ethical, effective and sustainable future for all. Forbes Human Resources Council is an invitation-only organization for HR executives across all industries. Do I qualify?
Fast Company
22-05-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
I've hired thousands of people at Google, Meta, and Yahoo. Here's how to stand out in your job search
Over the course of my career as an executive at Google, Yahoo, and Meta, and now as founder and CEO of my own firm, I've hired thousands of people. Across all those roles, one thing has stayed consistent: the applications that stand out are the ones that go beyond simply checking the boxes. In today's job market, with a challenging economy and the rise of AI, fewer jobs are getting posted, and more people are applying for every job. So it's all the more important to take the steps that will make your application stand out. Last year, we opened a chief of staff role at my company. Within days, we received more than 800 applications. My team and I read through every one of them. Just three stood out immediately. It wasn't because the applicants held that exact title before or came from the most well-known companies: it was because they did something extra. One submitted a deck outlining how they would approach the role. Another sent a short video of themselves walking through a presentation they'd created. The third added a 'User Manual,' a tool some organizations use to help teammates understand how to work together (and one our company uses, too). Each of the three caught my eye not just because they went beyond what we had asked for, but also because they used language and terms unique to our company that showed they understood and cared about how we operate. All three were invited to interview, and two of them made it to the final round. Taking the extra steps to bring attention to your application can be effective for all kinds of jobs. Whether you're applying for your first job or your next leadership role, a strong, thoughtful application can help you stand out. Here's what I've learned about how to set yourself apart. Treat AI as a beginning, not an end As of late, I've seen many job applications that sound almost identical. They begin with the same phrases, like 'Due to my extensive experience' or 'I am writing to express my sincere interest.' It's clear that some were written entirely by AI. I'm not against using AI. It can help you organize ideas and polish your language. However, when you rely on it too heavily, your application ends up sounding exactly like everyone else's. The best candidates may use AI to help support their thinking, but then they bring their own voice into the final version. Show how you think Résumés list what you have done, but strong applications show how you think. A short deck, a one-pager, a video, or a note with specific ideas gives companies insight into how you approach problems and communicate. You don't need to be a designer or send something flashy (unless you're applying for a design role!). What matters most is clarity and thoughtfulness. Show off some smart research When someone references details about a company's mission, product, or values using specific examples, it shows care and effort. When we were searching for our next chief of staff, one of our applicants sent some positive quotes from her clients and called them 'quotes from the Cookie Jar.' The Cookie Jar is a term we use for the Slack channel where we put customer testimonials—something we also mention on our company blog. By including our own terminology, it showed she had taken the time to go beyond just the first couple of pages of our website. Use your network when you can It's still a good idea to lean on the tried-and-true strategy of leveraging your connections. If you know someone at the company you're applying to, reach out to ask for a recommendation, an introduction, or even a quick tip; second-degree connections, too, might yield an introduction or a good word. And if you don't have any ins at the company, don't worry. Tailoring your message, doing deeper research, and writing an application that demonstrates how you think are just as effective for people without inside connections. In some cases, a standout application from someone without any ties can rise even further because it reflects initiative and creative thinking—two skills any team is looking for.
New York Times
22-05-2025
- New York Times
Inspector Let Recruits Who Failed Psychological Exam Join the N.Y.P.D.
A New York police inspector was transferred after allowing dozens of prospective officers to continue in the hiring process even though they failed to meet mental health standards set by the department, according to two people briefed on the matter. Terrell Anderson, who had commanded the candidate assessment division, was sent to the housing unit because officials learned he had overridden negative psychological reports for 80 candidates. That allowed them to go into the Police Academy even though they should have been disqualified based on their psychological assessments, according to the two people. It is not clear how many of the candidates went on to graduate from the academy and become police officers. The psychological reports had been overridden over the past several years, according to one of the people. In a statement, the police said that Inspector Anderson had been transferred and that the matter was under investigation. The inspector declined to comment. The inspector's decisions came as the department, the nation's largest police force, has been hemorrhaging officers. The department's head count has been falling since 2020. There were 33,531 uniformed officers in the department as of April 1, according to the city's Independent Budget Office, down from a peak of 40,000 in 2000. Inspector Anderson, who was transferred to the housing unit on May 12, joined the department in 2004 and has no history of disciplinary problems, according to police records. He has been cited for excellent or meritorious police duty 38 times, according to police records, and has been lauded as an innovative officer who has tried to work more closely with community leaders in troubled precincts. In 2020, he took over the 73rd Precinct, which covers Brownsville, a neighborhood of Brooklyn where he was raised and where residents had complained that officers had become too aggressive, grabbing men off the street to arrest them for minor offenses. Inspector Anderson came up with what became known as the Brownsville Safety Alliance, a group of neighborhood and city groups, police officers and members of the Kings County district attorney's office who worked together to ensure that fewer people were arrested and entangled in the criminal justice system. Inspector Anderson said he decided he wanted to change the way precinct officers interacted with residents after he approached a woman grilling outside. 'The look of fear she gave me, and I was like 'Wow, I didn't come on this job for someone like that to look at me,'' he said in an interview posted by Mayor Eric Adams on social media in November 2021. 'That told me we had work to do.' Inspector Anderson was transferred to the candidate assessment division in 2022 and became known for his eagerness to recruit more officers of color into the department, according to law enforcement officials who know him. Many recruits fail the psychological exam not because of serious mental disorders but because they appear inauthentic or overthink their answers, according to Kevin Sheerin, a lawyer and a retired New York police captain who has written at length about the department's hiring process on his website. Failing to prepare for the psychological exam is one of the top mistakes recruits make, he wrote in one recent blog post. 'This is a critical step in the hiring process designed to assess your emotional and mental fitness for the demands of the job,' Mr. Sheerin wrote. 'Many candidates assume they can wing it, but that is a huge mistake.' Recruits who fail the psychological test can appeal the decision to the civil service commission. They can also opt to take another civil service exam and try to rejoin the Police Academy later. The psychological test is divided into two parts: a written test made up of true or false questions that takes about five to six hours to complete and a one-on-one interview with a psychologist. A recruit can be disqualified for a wide range of reasons. Candidates are tested for personality disorders, mental illness, substance use disorders and traits incompatible with police work, such as immaturity or aggression. The department's recruiting crisis has led it to scale back educational requirements, even as it brought back more rigorous physical requirements. In February, the department lowered the number of college credits that applicants need to become recruits to 24 from 60. Officers have been lured away by jobs that offer higher pay and less stress. The attrition has forced overtime shifts that many officers say leave them burned out. Earlier in the year, officials said they expected mass departures in 2025, when about 3,700 officers will reach their 20th anniversaries, making them eligible for full pension. Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch has said she wants to get the head count back up to 35,000.
Fast Company
14-05-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
How to handle interviewing with more than one company
BY After weeks of searching and applying, you've made it to the interview stage, a victory in and of itself. But what happens if you land multiple interviews with different companies at the same time? While it's certainly a good problem to have, it's still one that needs to be handled with care—especially if one of the companies asks whether you're interviewing elsewhere. But does interviewing with multiple companies make you seem like a more desirable candidate—or someone less committed? What if you get a job offer from one company, but are midway through the hiring process at another? These questions are common, and how you handle them can impact not only your chances with each company, but also your reputation in the hiring process. We asked Christian Lovell, founder of Careers by Chris, to weigh in.
