Employers cautioned to treat job applicants well

Over the last five years of the Great Recession, I’ve heard story after story about how humiliating the job search has been for a lot of people.

Human resources can be rude as all get out to struggling job applicants. But people looking for work shouldn’t be kicked when they’re down. HR folks need to handle the situation with grace even if they have to give somebody the brush off.

Now there’s a new study out from a group called The Talent Board that finds if a potential employer treats a job applicant like dirt, that applicant will hold a grudge and not do business with them in the future. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports those scorned applicants will also tell others of their bad experience, poisoning the employer’s reputation among their friends.

Think about all the money it costs for a business to advertise, market and do promotions to try to get and retain a customer. So to turn around and create a negative virus because your HR people have poor people skills, well, in my opinion you get what you deserve as an employer.

We’re at time when the economy is getting incrementally better. People who were out of work are surprising themselves by finding jobs. It’s not a strong employment economy by any stretch, but things are better.

So it would behoove employers to know their HR people are creating lasting impressions when they talk to job candidates.

Make sure your HR people know part of their mission is not just to find the right applicant when a position opens up, but that they also know they are the frontline soldiers in creating a positive impression of business, even if there’s no available opportunity for that person who applied.