Open positions, especially those advertised, often generate many applications. If your practice is located in a major metropolitan area or large town, you may receive a huge pile of applications, electronic or otherwise, in response to a job posting.
Fortunately, not all job applicants will have the appropriate qualifications—otherwise, interviewing would become your full-time job.
Nevertheless, you will likely find several qualified individuals among the applicants, whom you will invite for interviews. Typically, one of these candidates will turn out to be your new hire.
Screening and hiring
It sounds rather routine, right? And, if you’ve been a manager for a while, you’ve probably been through the process numerous times.
Still, there is room for improvement—and the area requiring improvement is an important one.
But before going there, let’s take a closer look at the process.
As a manager, your focus is initially on screening in order to find the person who is right for the job. First, you screen applicants, by reviewing qualifications; then, you screen qualified individuals, which requires more time and effort, including interviews.
After you find your ideal candidate, you turn your attention to hiring, which involves bringing the person onboard and ensuring that she or he becomes familiar with the office and its procedures and receives training for the job.
There are many steps to recruiting and hiring. Meanwhile, as a busy manager, you still have a million other tasks to accomplish.
Missing link
Yet, the workflow, as described above, leaves out an essential step.
What about the applicants who were passed over in the pile? What about the candidates who interviewed but didn’t get the job?
Are you letting them know they weren’t selected for the position?
If not, you are missing out on an opportunity to further the reputation of your practice; and, in fact, you are risking damage to your practice’s reputation.
Job seekers are also potential clients, as well as friends and family members of potential patients. When you treat these individuals poorly, you have lost their respect and probably their future business.
What’s more, in an age of social media, word spreads quickly, for better or worse.
Which update would you rather a job seeker post on Facebook?
Example A: “Guess I didn’t get the job at XYZ Law Firm. It’s been two months since I submitted my application. The least they could have done was get back to me. I hope they show more concern for their clients.”
Example B: “Heard back from XYZ Law Firm that I didn’t get the job. Nice of them to let me know, though. Seems like they care.”
Best practice
The job seeker experience is so important that it is now considered a best practice for companies to get back to everyone who applied for a job. There is even a prestigious award, the Candidate Experience Award, known as the CandE Award, which recognizes excellence in enhancing the candidate experience.
Indeed, top companies have made job seeker communication a routine part of the recruiting and hiring process.
Of course, most large companies have an applicant tracking system (ATS) or other recruiting technology that facilitates notification.
Nevertheless, small and midsize businesses, including legal practices, should follow up with all job applicants and candidates who interview for a position.
Your practice may not have recruiting software, but it does have the tools necessary for easy communication.
Customize these Law Office Manager templates and get back to every job applicant. Your practice will be more successful for it.
Model Tool: Candidate rejection letter, job application
Model Tool: Candidate rejection letter, job interview
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