Candidate Experience as a Catalyst for Recruiting Success
About this Episode
In this episode of Offer Accepted, Shannon Ogborn sits down with Willem Wijnans, Ashby’s EMEA Sales Lead. Willem, a veteran in scaling companies and recruiting functions, shares his journey and insights into the world of talent acquisition.
Willem discusses his transition from sourcing to structured hiring, emphasizing the importance of tooling and operations. He shares his passion for candidate experience, a concept he initially dismissed but later embraced. Willem also highlights the importance of measuring and influencing this aspect of talent acquisition.
The conversation focuses on the role recruiters and hiring managers have in enhancing the hiring process. Willem stresses the importance of clear communication and the detrimental impact of ghosting candidates. He also shares his thoughts on the design of the hiring process, advocating for strategic thinking to avoid killing the pipeline and candidate experience. Tune in for a deep dive into the intricacies of a strong recruiting process.
Topics
This Episode's Guest
Willem Wijnans
EMEA Lead @ Ashby
Willem is currently leading all things EMEA GTM for Ashby, but was an early adopter of Ashby at Vanmoof where he was Head of Recruitment. He has years of experience in the recruiting space scaling companies and recruiting functions and is a great resource for all things talent.
Key Learnings
Willem’s episode reveals actionable insights on the impact of candidate experience, including who should be the main communicator, and the importance of tooling and operations in the hiring process.
Major takeaways:
- The Importance of Candidate Experience - Willem emphasizes the significance of a positive candidate experience. He believes that even rejected candidates should have an experience worthy of recommending the company to others. This approach requires a shift in focus from solely the hired person to all candidates involved in the process. Willem suggests that a great candidate experience doesn’t necessarily require sophisticated tools, but rather common sense, strategy, and clear communication.
- The Journey from Sourcing to Structured Hiring - Willem shares his personal journey from sourcing to structured hiring. He highlights the importance of tooling and operations in the hiring process. Initially, he didn’t see the value in measuring and influencing the candidate experience. However, after being persuaded by a coworker, he began to appreciate its operational and measurable aspects. This shift in perspective led him to focusing on the high impact candidate experience can have.
- The Role of Recruiters and Hiring Managers - In the hiring process, Willem believes that recruiters should be the main communicators. He also stresses the importance of feedback from hiring managers, especially later in the process. He also emphasizes the importance of not neglecting candidates, even those who are not selected, as they can become advocates for the company.
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Where Increasing Internal Transparency and Accountability Can Lead to Recruiting Team Success
In this episode of Offer Accepted, Leah Knobler, VP of People at Help Scout, shares her insights on the hiring process. She discusses the importance of continuous improvement in recruiting teams, drawing parallels with sales and marketing, where constant evaluation and refinement are the norms. Leah emphasizes the need for transparency and learning from successes and failures in the hiring process.
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