The Small Business HR Podcast
Ep. 33
33. Creating a Top-Notch Virtual Candidate Experience w/ Ryan Drawdy
Ryan Drawdy
Director of Culture & People Ops
In this episode, we sat down with Ryan Drawdy, Director of Culture & People Ops at Sweet Fish Media, to talk about how companies can evolve their candidate experience to better hire new employees in a remote world of work.
During our discussion, we talked about:
- What the landscape looks like for remote working—and in turn, virtual hiring
- The main differences (for candidates and recruiters) between an in-person hiring experience and a virtual hiring experience.
- How Sweet Fish Media ensures a strong candidate experience while hiring virtually (and the four steps you should take, too)
Bonus: Here’s the Typeform application Ryan mentioned.
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As a manager, the things that got me most excited were when I could prove to my people that I supported them, that I trusted them, that they could bring some of their heavy things to me—at work—and I’d help them. And in return, I would hear that my approach was a total 180 from the toxic workplaces they were used to. I was so amazed that I could be that person for my team.”
HR is a great space for me. At its heart, HR is people-centric. And at Sweet Fish, I was able to fundamentally establish an entire culture and provide a psychologically safe space for people. That’s what got me into HR.”
The main difference between in-person and virtual hiring experience? The amount of time you get to spend with each other. And there’s pros and cons to that. For the candidate, there’s less anxiety over sitting in a waiting room before your interview. In a virtual setting, you just join the call, you interview, and then you get to decompress immediately after you hang up. But on the other hand, you might not get as much visibility into the company.”
It’s so easy to lose control of the candidate experience. You can always edit and improve your hiring process, but you need to have one—documented—before you can think about improving it.”
Be human when you turn candidates down. You have an opportunity to send a message that will resonate with that candidate—and leave them with a positive impression of your brand.”
If candidates are impressed by your company during the hiring cycle, they’ll come to the final table with less skepticism about joining. They will like you, and they’ll want to join a company that feels like a breath of fresh air.”
