Connecting with Candidates

May 6, 2021

Connecting with Candidates: Our Evolving Recruiting Process

After coming out of 2020, it is clear that this world we are living in is everchanging. The recruiting and interviewing process are no different. With the introduction of technologies and social media platforms that get daily interactions, we are all much more connected today then we’ve ever been as a society. That helps companies get their opportunities out to many more people and helps target recruiting efforts when recruiters are actively seeking certain skillsets. But how does this increased connection affect the candidate? And how does this change work in FourSeasons, specifically?

The best and simplest way to explain how the recruiting and interviewing process has shifted, in my opinion, would really be by highlighting how the norm is now less operational and administrative. Instead, the recruiting and interviewing process has shifted to being much more people and client focused. While there are still many administrative steps that must be taken for consistency and compliance purposes, many HR professionals seem to be following the trend of building comfort and conversation into the interviewing process.

As an interviewer, if I have my candidate nervous through a closed-door interview, or rigid and rapid questions about the role, or lack of eye contact and engagement, am I really getting to know the candidate? I would feel as though I’m moving away from the interview, still not understanding who the person is, what they’re looking for, and how they could fit with our company. If I don’t know those things, how would I know that the candidate would even be interested in our openings, much less qualified and eager to grow?

When I think about some of my best phone, Zoom, or in-person interviews, I usually relate those to conversations where we were able to have some laughs, dive into the culture of FourSeasons, explain intrinsic motivators, and get deeper than day-to-day responsibilities. An interview, to me, should explore beyond whether the candidate can technically do the job. While that is without a doubt a piece of the conversation, we really want to understand whether the candidate will be a great fit with our team.

Here at FourSeasons, we are currently in a growth stage. We’re growing in projects, we’re growing in strategy, and we’re growing in people. When we are adding to our teams, it is our due diligence to try and find those that will be with us long term in an enjoyable and exciting role. This only helps in keeping us agile and growing in the right ways, together.

From the beginning of our conversations with candidates and through each touchpoint, we try to encourage questions and feedback. We understand that an interviewing process really goes both ways; our candidates are interviewing us and our team just as much as we’re interviewing them. Keeping our teams in this mind frame, I believe, really helps give us the edge. By adjusting our overall recruiting and interviewing process, we can embrace that client-focused structure.

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