An organization’s interview process is one of the most influential candidate experiences. What’s going to make or break your candidate experience? Who’s conducting the interview will!

The interviewer’s attributes, including personality and knowledge, are paramount. Interviewers need to prepare as much, if not more, than candidates. The interview is regularly the first-time employers meet a candidate in-person. Job seekers are often coached about first impressions, but employers likewise should concentrate on their initial impression to the potential employee.

If you’re on the search for the best talent to join your organization, you certainly want to create a welcoming environment. Recruiting top talent depends heavily on your candidate experience – how the job seeker is treated throughout the hiring cycle. How an applicant perceives they are treated can impact their likelihood to accept the offer, stay on-the-job, and what they communicate to others about your organization. Word-of-mouth is a powerful recruitment tool and candidates WILL tell others!

AgCareers.com surveyed job seekers in the Candidate Experience Survey, which included questions about the influential factors in creating a positive interview experience. Most of the top factors we uncovered relate directly to the interviewer, including: 

The results demonstrate how critical the interviewer is in the recruiting process. Sufficient preparation by the employer is imperative to make sure they ask relevant questions. An interviewers’ personality and knowledge also are influential.

Ag employers report that technical roles are the most difficult to recruit for. These recruiting circumstances necessitate involvement from current employees that are well-versed in the technological or role-specific language, truly understand what the job entails, and can “talk the talk” to a potential new colleague.

Make sure your interviewer can passionately discuss and show your organization’s core values, mission, and vision. The interviewer should tell the candidate how the role they’re interviewing for fits into and impacts the organization overall. Plus, they should be ready to discuss continuing education, development programs, mentors, and advancement opportunities.

To learn more about candidate experience and how your organization can improve, download your free copy of the full AgCareers.com Candidate Experience Survey Results & Analysis under “market research” at www.AgCareers.com.  

The opinions of the author are not necessarily those of Farm Futures or Farm Progress.