Advice for Google Recruiters, Part 1: Responsiveness

I spent five years working at Google as a Technical Recruiter. In the past three-and-a-half years, I have been coaching candidates on how to get into Google. When you consider this data and all the questions and feedback I’ve received on my coaching content throughout the years, I truly believe I am one of the most qualified people in the world to offer advice to Google recruiters.

The goal of this series of articles is to provide some advice that I know will help all the Google recruiters out there. More specifically, I can speak from the perspective of the candidates. I understand their experiences and I have also been in your shoes as a Recruiter. Some of these tips can help you become a better Recruiter and make your life a little easier, while also creating a better candidate experience.

Responsiveness

The number one area where recruiters fall short is lack of responsiveness, especially when it comes to candidates who may be in some stage of the interview negotiation process. This is almost always due to poor organization. It helps to create systems and processes that will guarantee better responsiveness. If you can master the following three steps, it will make such a difference:

Step #1—Clean Ghire

Google’s internal candidate tracking system is excellent when utilized to its fullest. You’ll want to spend time on a daily basis keeping your Ghire clean and organized. Close out candidates no longer in the process. Stay on top of applications and key hiring/prioritizing decisions. Spend some extra time getting caught up if needed. Then, stay on top of it for improved organization and responsiveness.

Step #2—Inbox Management System

As a Google Recruiter, you could easily spend all day every day just going through your inbox and answering emails. The biggest piece of advice I have is time blocking for emails. It may be challenging at first, but it will make a significant difference to block out time specifically for emails. You will want to develop a system for your emails to make sure you are getting back to all candidates in a timely manner. You can star emails. You can use your inbox as a to-do list. There are numerous methods you can use. The key thing is to have a system that you can follow and make sure you keep up with the necessary email activity.

Step #3—Calendar

The first two steps are critical to getting organized. This last step is to stay rigid with your calendar. Ideally, with a strong level of organization, you could hit that 24-hour SLA for getting back to all candidates. The simplest way to accomplish this is to always end your day with follow-ups. This will help you stay responsive to all your candidates.

One of my favorite items for responsiveness is the “no-update update.” At a minimum, this is done every Friday at the end of the day with an email sent out to everybody who is in process. It will alleviate so much pressure for you and create a great candidate experience.

Simply, create different email templates with a message that provides an update, that is essentially no update. You are simply letting the candidate know they are still top of mind for you and you are on top of it. Perhaps you send out an email that says something like “I’m still awaiting interview feedback. I’ll let you know when it comes in. Have a great weekend. I’ll follow up next week.”

These templates will allow you to cruise through your responses and touch base with everyone in a relatively short amount of time. Your candidates will feel good getting an email before the weekend. They know you are thinking about them. Build this responsibility into your calendar. When you build this item into your system/process, along with your email inbox management and a clean Ghire, you will be much more organized and responsive.

In my full video on this subject, I provide a screen share of how you might set up your calendar. It’s an excellent example of just how easy and effective this can be if you are willing to take the time to set up the necessary responsiveness systems. Watch the full video below:

In Part 2 of this series next week, I will cover my second big piece of advice for Google Recruiters. It is all about setting the right expectations with your candidates.

For more resources visit my website -  Practice Interviews and check out our AI Practice Interview App.