Seth Nun, a Senior Recruiter at Better, has seen incredible success at sourcing and hiring a large team to meet demand. Better was recently ranked the #1 financial startup by LinkedIn and has added thousands of employees to their ranks over the past year.
We sat down with Seth to learn how he honed his craft while growing the Better team, the importance of embracing change, and how his contributions have resulted in two meaningful promotions in just two years.
During our conversation, one thing that stuck out: Seth cares a lot about the experience he provides to candidates applying at Better. Specifically, he detailed four best practices that contribute to an optimal candidate experience.
1. Don’t skimp on the prep work
CareerPlug reports that 58% of interviewed candidates have turned down a job offer in the last 12 months due to a poor candidate interview experience. The interview process must evolve as companies scale. This growth can sometimes result in a poor experience for the candidate as hiring managers and recruiters rush to fill several positions simultaneously.
But hypergrowth doesn’t always correlate with a negative candidate experience. As Seth explains, “[e]specially when you’re in a company that’s rapidly growing, things can fall through the cracks when you have so many candidates and open roles to think about. Being organized and resourceful is definitely key as a recruiter.” At a minimum, that means spending the necessary time to review candidate CVs or resumes, learning how to pronounce their names correctly, and beginning interviews right on time.
2. Over-communicate
Seth provides as much information as possible to the candidate at the beginning of the interview process. This encourages transparency and authenticity, both of which are critical aspects of good communication. He shares:
“Giving people the opportunity to have an understanding of job information, the company, and the different people within the company is important. So I do that in a lot of different ways. For example, after a call, I’ll send a quick thank you for speaking with me and send them a specific list of articles or things that keep them engaged and excited about what we’re doing. I also make sure that I’m available and that the candidate knows how to reach me best.”
Of the candidates who declined a job offer due to a poor candidate experience, 26% reported negative interactions with the interviewer or a slow and disorganized interview process that left them feeling out of the loop. It might sometimes feel like you’re over-communicating with candidates (through regular check-ins, interview follow-ups, candidate surveys, and more), but the odds are that they appreciate the effort.
3. Deal with “the monkey” yourself
When faced with an inevitable problem as a recruiter, how do you handle it? When asked what career advice stuck with him in his early years as a recruiter, Seth laughed, recalling, “I was a new intern reporting to a CEO at that company, and I had a problem. So I went to the CEO and told him the problem and all the information I had, then asked what he wanted me to do. You know what he said? ‘Don’t put the monkey on my back.’”
Whether it’s a ghosting candidate, a missed interview, or a botched follow-up, you can pass your problem (the “monkey”) to the next person in line and hope they can find a resolution. Or, you can take responsibility and deal with the issue directly, which often results in a better experience for the candidates involved. As Seth concluded, “I always think about not just sharing that or passing the problem to somebody else, but being a part of the solution.”
4. Use the right tools
The right tools, platforms, and systems can play a vital role in creating an efficient, streamlined hiring process for hiring teams and candidates alike. Seth’s perspective:
“Have the right tools, and understand how to use those tools effectively to create an ideal candidate experience. Here at Better, while we’re in this rocket ship hyper-growth mode, we can leverage tools (like BrightHire) because they’re efficient and don’t take time out of another recruiter’s day. [These tools] also just give people more time in the day and opportunities, too, letting you comb through past interview conversations with specificity and clarity you wouldn’t have without those resources.”
Moving Forward
Better is a rocket ship, with recruiters like Seth adding fuel to the engine by encouraging an informed interview process that results in an ideal candidate experience. We’re thrilled that BrighHire can play a part in their mission to revolutionize home-buying.
About us
BrightHire’s Zoom-enabled AI platform helps the world’s fastest-growing companies (like Better!) hire better, faster, and more equitably by enabling high-quality, recordable interviews that elevate the in-person process. Recently awarded our Series B funding to continue building the future of hiring, we’re proud to decrease recruiter ramp time by up to 75% and are ready to help your team improve its candidate experience and win more hires.
BrightHire helps forward-thinking organizations build more talented and diverse teams. You can learn more about our product here.
