The job interview process is essential for a host of reasons. For employers, it’s an opportunity to gauge whether or not the candidate is a fit for the position and for the company. Job candidates, too, can determine if it’s the right job and the right work environment for them.

But the interview process can also be a source of frustration to both parties. More often than not, the process is long. This can be frustrating to human resources teams who are eager to fill the position, but required to follow company hiring policies. However an excessively drawn-out interview process can exasperate job candidates to the point of simply dropping out without seeing it through.

There are myriad factors that can contribute to job seekers eliminating themselves from the hiring process.

Salary Expectations

Traditionally, job postings do not include salary information, be it a specific dollar amount or a salary range. Slowly this is changing. But it has yet to become standard practice. In turn, job candidates are required to share either their salary expectations early on in the interview process. The conversation can be awkward as candidates are effectively being asked to guess what the actual salary range for the position is.

Moreover, it points to how committed the company is to Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), a pledge that has increasingly become common practice in the hospitality industry. So if your organization is genuinely committed to treating, men, women, and People of Color as well as those of various religious and cultural backgrounds equally, it only makes sense to be transparent about pay.

Including the position’s hourly rate or salary range in a job positing can make a significant difference in attracting relevant job seekers who will see the interview process through.

Commensuration

C-suite executives looking for their next role should expect an extensive interview process that includes multiple rounds of phone calls, video conferences and/or in-person meetings with recruiters, board members, and even owners or investors.

But when front line employees or low- to mid-level management are asked to meet, either virtually or in-person, with more than three different hiring managers and supervisors, they can easily see red flags.

When job candidates are asked to meet with the recruiter, the talent manager, the hiring manager, the direct supervisor, the group manager and the executive overseeing the entire group, it can easily spell bureaucracy.

In the hospitality industry, we like to talk about how all staff is empowered to keep guests satisfied. So shouldn’t hiring managers and direct supervisors of front line positions also be empowered to make recruitment decisions?

Avoid Asking for Free Labor

This has become a noticeable turnoff for job candidates. So don’t be surprised if they ask you what the compensation rate is for the project. If your company truly values the effort that candidates put into the task and, moreover, if the value the candidate enough at this point of the interview process, to ask them to complete the task, then it only makes sense to demonstrate to them that the organization values their time and effort monetarily. After all, work for pay is the nature of employment.

Does your hiring process include asking job candidates to perform a free task? That is, do potential hires for the marketing department need to create a marketing plan as part of the interview process? Or likewise, are you asking candidates for financial or controller’s office roles to show you a sample budget? If so –and candidates are not being compensated for their work—you are likely communicating that the company is looking to pay as little as possible for as much work as they can command.

Follow-Up Isn’t for the Privileged Few

Following every interview round, candidates are expected to send a thank you note to the person with whom they interviewed. Recruiters and hiring managers might respond if they want the candidate to move on to the next interview round. Otherwise, candidates’ messages of gratitude are often left with no answer, which frankly is unprofessional.

Hiring managers do not have the foresight to know if that candidate might –weeks, months or years down the road—make a good fit for another position. They also don’t know if they may one day end up working at the same company as the job candidate.

So be sure to extend everyone the professional courtesy of a response after a job interview.  It may be to simply thank him or her for his interest and consideration, but to let them know that a more appropriate or experienced job seeker was selected to move forward in the interview process. The feedback could be valuable to the job candidate. It might encourage them to apply for another role with the company in the future. So why close the door on them by not responding?