If your company is doing well enough to actually be hiring people, it'd be wise to heed the advice offered in a recent Fast Company piece on how not to make the experience alienating to applicants you're not snatching up. It's common courtesy to of course treat everyone with respect and dignity, but when you're dealing with hundreds of resumes and cookie-cutter cover letters, there's the temptation to let things slide or put it off. Don't:
Word of mouth from the people who have an impersonal and demeaning hiring experience at your company can effectively throw your brand under the bus. And here's the kicker: The voices of those rejected candidates have grown exponentially more powerful over the years. Forget about word of mouth and say hello to "word of Tweet.
Basically, it boils down to this: You've got a lot of people who are basically fans of your company researching and trying to impress you. Don't make them regret believing in you.
The piece recommends you can do that by giving feedback to everyone, even if it's via e-mail. Don't send them to your website. If you can have someone call or meet face-to-face with applicants who didn't make the cut, even better.
Read the full piece over at Fast Company.
