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RECRUIT TALENT IN TODAY’S MARKET

Top 7 Questions
From Recruiters
 INTRODUCTION

You asked. We answered.

Of the many questions asked over the past year

during webinars and events, there were 7 in
particular that stood out — some because they were
common, and some because they really struck a
chord. We submitted these queries to recruiting
leaders from BambooHR and Glassdoor. With over
20 years of industry experience to look back on,
they were happy to provide their insights into hiring,
interviewing, company culture and more.

2 | Top 7 Questions From Recruiters

Copyright © 2008–2017, Glassdoor, Inc. “Glassdoor” and logo are proprietary trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc.
 1 How do you hire for
culture and diversity?
First, make sure you are pulling diversity into your pipeline.
You can accomplish that through your own active sourcing
efforts as well as thoughtful marketing of your positions in your
job ads. There are many tactical methods for ensuring a diverse
pipeline, and by prioritizing them, you ensure that managers
have the diversity in front of them to make the best decisions.

Second, you need to make sure you are training interviewers and
hiring managers to recognize and combat their own biases. In fact,
entire training sessions can (and likely should) be built around
eliminating unconscious bias from the candidate review process. It is
all too common for hiring managers to assume that because they do
their job well, people like them will be successful in a similar position.
They pigeonhole themselves into thinking that only a particular edu-
cational background or a particular kind of work experience will lend
itself to success in their teams. You can train against that by showing
the productivity and value of teams that have diversity of thought.

Hiring from different backgrounds and focusing on diversity of thought rather

than homogeneity improves the outcomes of group thinking. It helps entire teams
PRO TIP
innovate and do things differently. A focus on diversity of thought also opens minds
to diversity of background, and leads to a diversity of workforce.

3 | Top 7 Questions From Recruiters

Copyright © 2008–2017, Glassdoor, Inc. “Glassdoor” and logo are proprietary trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc.
(Hint: “Work hard, play hard” is not a culture, it’s
recruitment marketing gimmick — don’t fall prey to that).
Many times a company’s culture forms accidentally
after much of the hiring has been done. Rather,

action taken as early as possible.

Too often, an organization will build a homogenous

workplace by accident, and that soft foundation of

Don’t put the cart before the horse! If you see this
happening in your organization, put a stop to it by

from the mindset of a brand new company.

4 | Top 7 Questions From Recruiters

Copyright © 2008–2017, Glassdoor, Inc. “Glassdoor” and logo are proprietary trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc.
 2 How do you avoid making people
think they got the job while still providing
a positive candidate experience?

It’s no secret that the job market is candidate-driven. That means providing a great candidate
experience is more important than ever. Job seekers check out company interview reviews and
questions on Glassdoor to get a feel for what your company’s process is like. The more positive

a job at your company, which is why organizations that invest in a strong candidate experience
improve their quality of hires by 70%.

Organizations that invest in a strong candidate experience

improve their quality of hires by 70%
1

A huge piece of this is clear communication and managing

expectations from the get-go. Be clear about the steps in
your interview process and the timeline involved in your
hiring process. Does your interview process take days or
several weeks? Job seeking is incredibly stressful, so don’t
leave candidates in the dark here. Be considerate and let
them know how long it will take. If your interview process
will take several weeks, providing clarity around why the
process will take that long is also appreciated.

1. Source: Brandon Hall, The True Cost of a Bad Hire, September 2015

5 | Top 7 Questions From Recruiters

Copyright © 2008–2017, Glassdoor, Inc. “Glassdoor” and logo are proprietary trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc.
 3 What do you do with
serial re-schedulers?

comes to a halt out of nowhere, or you come down

want candidates coming in ready to knock interviewers’

socks off, not worrying about their kids or battling

works for them, that way you can hold them accountable
if they try to cancel again.

about you choosing them as it is about them choosing you.

If the candidate continues to reschedule, it’s a signal they aren’t
that interested and it’s time to politely bring that relationship

anyway—you aren’t that desperate.

6 | Top 7 Questions From Recruiters

Copyright © 2008–2017, Glassdoor, Inc. “Glassdoor” and logo are proprietary trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc.
 4 What are some
best practices for
sending out surveys
to candidates?

Encourage them to be candid because it will help

your company learn about and improve the
interview experience.

Tip two is to make feedback easy for candidates to provide,

and to gather it in real time (or as close to real time as possible).
Recruiters should let the candidate know they can leave a review
about their experience on your company’s Glassdoor page. You
can also reinforce by weaving this into the interview process —
have your last interviewer in the loop mention it to the candidate
on their way out.

Many companies even keep a tablet or laptop ready at the reception area so
interviewees can quickly submit their feedback while the experience is still fresh in
PRO TIP their minds. Another way to do this is to include a call-to-action in your follow-up
email communications. It’s as simple as inserting a link to your Glassdoor
“Let us know what you thought about
interviewing at our company. We’d love to hear from you.”

7 | Top 7 Questions From Recruiters

Copyright © 2008–2017, Glassdoor, Inc. “Glassdoor” and logo are proprietary trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc.
The third tip is to let candidates know
that the data isn’t tracked. Their feedback
is completely anonymous and will be used
simply to learn about and improve your
interview experience.

Last but not least, you should always

respond to candidate’s feedback on
Glassdoor and use the feedback to
improve your interview process.

If you have a Free Employer Account, you can track how

your interview process is rated, spot trends in feedback,
PRO TIP
and respond to interview reviews (and employee reviews,
for that matter) for free.

8 | Top 7 Questions From Recruiters

Copyright © 2008–2017, Glassdoor, Inc. “Glassdoor” and logo are proprietary trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc.
 5 What are the best interview
questions to ask?

It’s important to remember there is no silver bullet that will reveal

everything you need to know about a candidate. If you hear anyone
touting the “one question” you need to ask a candidate, run! These are

the truth behind a person’s entire life story and professional acumen.

Your entire screening and interviewing process should be comprehensively

designed to help you understand the individual and their professional
background. Here are a few suggestions to keep in mind:

Avoid hypothetical questions. Most people can paint an

ideal picture of what they would do in a particular scenario. Your

they did what they claim to have done.

Ask thorough follow-up questions, and then ask some

more. As you continue to dig into their experience, you will be
able to pinpoint inconsistencies in their professional background.
If you start hearing a pattern of generalization or vagueness
when you press for details, make a note and ask for a different
example. You want to get at the truth, but it’s important that
an interview should not feel like an interrogation. Rather,
interviewers should understand that the candidate experience
is equally as important as verifying the facts behind their claims.

9 | Top 7 Questions From Recruiters

Copyright © 2008–2017, Glassdoor, Inc. “Glassdoor” and logo are proprietary trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc.
Try to discover candidates’ true motivations. An interview

person. Are their values and aspirations aligned well with what the job
and company can provide? If not, you’re asking for turnover, and the

Don’t skip the reference check. Tell me this: what candidate is

going to give you references who wouldn’t say wonderful things about

be using this step as a means to verify or get perspective on a particu-

lar event that the interviewee described in interview.

Throw away the script.

multiple candidates, but your questions should come from your intake
meeting with hiring managers as you seek to build a detailed job
description and understand the day-to-day needs of the position.

10 | Top 7 Questions From Recruiters

Copyright © 2008–2017, Glassdoor, Inc. “Glassdoor” and logo are proprietary trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc.
 6 How do you make sure someone

the company and culture?

Focus on gauging their passion for the job itself, and dig deeper to
uncover their motivations. Ask the “why” behind their interest. You
may know quite a lot about the position, but candidates have their
own perception of it and what it can do for them.

Ask what their perception is and what drove them to apply:

Are they interested in the industry?

What a candidate spends time studying can tell you a lot

Are they attracted to the kinds of tasks this job would involve
on a day-to-day basis?

Where do they want to get to in their career, and how do they

think this position will help them get there?

It’s a great thing when candidates continue to bring up the company and culture, but a good

if you love an organization, what you do every day and the team members you work with are
larger determining factors to your overall job satisfaction. Whether the applicant feels the
same way or not, your organization is likely to be better served in the long run by a candidate

11 | Top 7 Questions From Recruiters

Copyright © 2008–2017, Glassdoor, Inc. “Glassdoor” and logo are proprietary trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc.
 7 How can you make
rejections positive?

and tact are everything. Most candidate frustrations are the result
of not knowing — of being in the dark after interviewing or sending
their resume into the cosmos of your ATS. Every applicant should get
a response about the status of their candidacy or application, and
while rejections can sting, candidates will more often be grateful that
you took the time to communicate with them in some form.

Set expectations of timing and follow through. If the hiring team

needs more time to make a decision, communicate that immediately to
the applicant so they know the status of their candidacy.

back to people faster. If you need to add a daily headcount to your

team to ensure better candidate experience communications, do it.

Make sure your recruiters have enough time to do their jobs

the right way.
engenders more respect. If your candidate has taken the time to come in
and interview, a three-minute phone call graciously communicating your
appreciation for their time and efforts will go a long way in making
rejection a more positive experience.

Check the tone of your email correspondence and examine

your phone presence. If your communication style is cold or
impersonal, candidates will feel like they are cogs in a wheel rather than
individuals whose time, talents, and interest you value.

12 | Top 7 Questions From Recruiters

Copyright © 2008–2017, Glassdoor, Inc. “Glassdoor” and logo are proprietary trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc.
 CONCLUSION

No matter how sophisticated applicant

tracking becomes, there will always
be a critical human element in you, the
recruiter. It’s up to you to embrace a
multifaceted role as a culture builder,
gatekeeper, judge, advocate, and
treasure hunter, and to understand that
while companies trade in products and
services, recruiters trade in people —
a priceless commodity that many wish
they could treat as a simple line-item,

return. So, above all, you must stay

human. The most successful recruiters
are the ones who can add that value to
the bottom line while at the same time
remaining compassionate, with the

on a single sheet of paper.

13 | Top 7 Questions From Recruiters

Copyright © 2008–2017, Glassdoor, Inc. “Glassdoor” and logo are proprietary trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc.