Before I started working at CAREEREALISM in 2013, I applied to a few positions at HubSpot, an Inbound Marketing software company in Cambridge, Mass. I had four in-person interviews for one of the open jobs, but ultimately was not offered the position.
Recently HubSpot sent me an email that is one of the most giving things I’ve ever encountered in the job search process. I felt compelled to share it because I had never seen or heard anything like it before. After noticing it was an automated email, I realized how easy it would be to replicate, which is another reason I decided to write about it (and show the actual email to you, word-for-word).
That’s right. A company that I applied to work for last year forwarded me a message including links to jobs OUTSIDE OF THEIR COMPANY. Talk about a selfless act!
Granted,inbound.org is a site that was created by one of HubSpot’s co-founders, but the jobs posted on it include plenty of HubSpot’s potential competitors and partners.
This email is an example of one of the many things smart companies are doing (and you should be doing) to continue their relationships with past applicants.
There’s another big reason this move is great: it’s another large contribution to HubSpot’s content universe. It demonstrates the knowledge they have about their industry and the willingness to provide value to someone that may never work for them or buy from them. It’s an automated email that isn’t customized beyond the recipient’s name, so it is a “set it and forget it” effort with no expiration date.
How to Keep Good Job Candidates Interested in Your Company
How many times has the second-place finisher for one of your open jobs been called back to talk about future opportunities? (The winner might not even be around anymore, so you could need someone again.) There are plenty of reasons for doing something like this, even if it doesn’t involve sending people to the competition.
You don't have to limit your responses to only second-place finishers either. If you send these messages to anyone that was considered seriously for the job, you'll reach a larger amount of qualified people.
Many of these solutions are scalable, and some aren’t. They’re all valuable in one way or another.
-- Share some
news about your industry with the applicant that they might find useful, or about changes in the jobs in your industry, or even updates about your company, whether it has to do with employment or not.
-- Give the applicant an
incentive to tell other people about your company through social promotions.
-- Give the applicant a
special prize as a thank you, like a download of your of your most popular ebooks or a link to a discount on your products. As long as you give a good enough reason for it, it won’t seem self-serving.
-- Ask applicants to give you a
review on Glassdoor, or even just within their own blog or social media profiles.
-- Offer some research that shows the
typical career progression in your industry. (“Typical” stories from the past aren’t as common, but you might be able to find an anecdote for someone similar.)
-- Send an email that explains
other open jobs at your company that the applicant might be interested in that would involve the same skills.
-- Connect the applicant with
someone who has the position they were applying for to help them see how they can become an even better fit the next time the opening rolls around.
It’s okay if you don’t custom-fit your solution for every single applicant, but make sure they’re tailored enough that they apply. For instance, if HubSpot were sending one to me, I wouldn’t expect them to talk about marketing jobs with the Boston Red Sox, but they might send something about sports marketing (instead of marketing in general, since much of my
work experience is in sports communications).
If you can come up with one tidbit you’d send for each of the different departments in your company, you could quickly impress candidates that apply for any of your open jobs!
What creative post-application messages have you encountered in your job search (or candidate search)?
