While it’s now possible for many companies to return to business-as-usual and bring employees back to the office, it’s clear that for many a hybrid work-from-home model is here to stay. As business continues to trend in a digital direction, what do prospective employees expect from your hiring process? Although the majority of job seekers in our recent survey (85%) said they’d be willing to interview in person, many (16%) still aren’t. And if the interview process or required skills assessments are too time intensive, you may miss out on attracting good candidates. So how can you make your interview process more competitive? Our recent survey of 150 professionals offers insight into job candidate preferences and expectations.&nbsp; Communication Is KeyWhen asked how often a business’s hiring process is made clear up front, the majority of job seekers found communication lacking: 46% said it was sometimes clear 26% said the process was rarely made clear, and 5% said it was never clear 18% said it was frequently clear&nbsp; Only 4% reported the hiring process was always made clear. Lack of information about the hiring process can leave job seekers feeling like they’re in interview limbo and can result in great candidates withdrawing from consideration altogether. Time is a FactorWhen asked, job seekers prefer that the interview process spread outa bit: 62% prefer interviews broken up over several days 38% would rather complete all interviews in a single day. There is also a limit to how many days candidates are willing to spend on the process: 44% of those polled said four interviews are too many. 30% drew the line at five. 20% said three was too much.&nbsp; Only 6% said two interviews were too many. Patience for Skills Assessments is LimitedWhen we asked about skills assessments during the interview process,&nbsp; 80% said they’re willing to complete an in-person skills assessment. 60% prefer assessments in the form of a take-home assignment. Although skills assessments are a generally-accepted part of job interviews, they can’t be too lengthy: 60% of job seekers are only willing to spend 15-30 minutes on assessments. 26% said they’d spend up to an hour. 9% said 2 hours is acceptable, and only 6% are willing to spend 3 hours or more. Bonus InsightWe asked those in the highly competitive coding market what they believed to be the best way to measure their unique skills and learned the following hot tips: 37% thought their previous work samples were the best metric 25.5% prefer an interactive whiteboard session 23.5% would opt for a take-home assignment&nbsp; 14% said an online skills assessment was best So How Can You Maximize Your Interviews?&nbsp;1. Establish expectations up front.&nbsp; Be sure to provide candidates with a clear picture of the position prior to coming in for interviews. This includes position responsibilities, work hours, leadership and advancement opportunities, as well as compensation 2. Have a clear interview process you can share with job seekers. Letting candidates in on your company’s process will give them a greater sense of involvement and assurance that they’re progressing through your team’s hiring hierarchy and are not just sitting on the back burner. 3. Keep skills assessments short and sweet. Make sure to stay focused on the unique requirements for the role to ensure that you’re asking the right questions.&nbsp; 4. Consider breaking up the process. Think about spreading a long, one-day interview process out over several shorter days to alleviate some of the pressure candidates are under, while still being efficient with everyone’s time.&nbsp; 5. Limit the total number of interviews. Candidates expect to speak with multiple people during an interview process, but try to cap the total number of interviews at 3.&nbsp; ​ To check out the full infographic, download it here. <img src="https://www.ehire.com/rails/active_storage/blobs/eyJfcmFpbHMiOnsibWVzc2FnZSI6IkJBaHBBOFI4SlE9PSIsImV4cCI6bnVsbCwicHVyIjoiYmxvYl9pZCJ9fQ==--fef253799b2abbe65003c488c2a821ff81401003/eHire_Interview_Sentiment_Infographic-061422-800.jpg">​ Our team at eHire is always here to do more than connect your business with the right talent. We help equip your team with the latest information on best practices in hiring and maintaining great employees. Reach out to us anytime for help finding the key players needed to grow your company. Share This Blog

16% of Prospective Employees Aren’t Willing to Interview in Person ... and Other Interview Process Insights