have a pretty clear picture of what each candidate would bring to the position. Move with Urgency Hiring in the retail automotive industry happens fast. Considering that 61% of automotive job seekers accept the first role they’re offered — and 45% will accept the second — if you’re holding an interview and you know that this candidate would excel in the role and at your dealership, you can schedule them for the second interview immediately. You don’t want to offer the role outright, but if you have no worries about passing this individual along then you don’t have to wait any courtesy days/time period to contact them again for a follow-up interview. Just like in sales, time kills deals. The sooner you can schedule secondary interviews or follow up in general with candidates, the better. While you want to move quickly, you still need to complete certain hiring steps to ensure that you’re making the right decision for your dealership — and that means conducting reference checks. Typically, you can do this step for top candidates before the final interview in order to speed up the process and get them on your team faster. Keep Lines of Communication Open Immediately after the interview, you should send the candidates a thank you message for their time and what they can expect in terms of next steps. There are more opportunities available in the retail automotive space than there are job seekers, so having the candidate show up and complete the interview is an accomplishment itself. You can make this follow-up process much simpler for your team by using a customizable template that you just drop details into and send. This simple act keeps the lines of communication open between you and the candidate so you can continue to engage with them throughout the rest of the process. If you choose to not continue with a candidate, it’s very important that you provide closure to rejected candidates. Make it a priority to let rejected candidates know that you’re choosing not to move forward with them within two to three days — but be kind. You might want to stay in contact with these talented workers later down the road; they could continue their education, gain more experience or be interested in a different role at your dealership when you connect with them again. If, for some reason, the hiring decision is delayed and cannot be rushed you need to keep the candidates warm. Again, you want them to be excited about joining the team at your dealership so you can’t let stalls and hiccups make them second guess — or accept another role elsewhere. Create a Consistent Process All in all, you need to create a system that works best for you and the hiring team at your dealership. How you carry out these steps might differ from how the dealer down the road does it, but all that matters is that your process makes sense for you. It is important, however, that you document the general procedure to use again in the future. Keeping all of your templates, hiring steps, job descriptions and candidates from all of your rooftops in one centralized location like an applicant tracking system makes it much easier (and faster) to get your open roles in front of job seekers the next time you have an opening. Analyze and Optimize As you go through your candidate ratings, comparing one to another should be easy. If it’s a close decision, you can always rely on the candidate notes from all of the interviewers for more insight on how the team feels. Sometimes that’s not enough though; in that case, you could consider scheduling one more interview with each of the two finalists. However, if you feel that no one that was interviewed met your expectations, there are two options you could take: lower your standards or consider alternative methods of advertising your open roles. READY TO HOLD BETTER INTERVIEWS AT YOUR DEALERSHIP? Interviews are a critical part of the hiring process — but it can be difficult for everyone involved in hiring to be on the same page. By creating a uniform system across your locations, you can ensure that you’re consistently hiring people at the caliber you want. Dealers that prioritize easing the interview process for candidates and their hiring teams will find the most success in the years to come. Hireology is the leading provider of hiring software for multi-location businesses. The platform equips HR and business leaders with the support and tools they need to attract better quality talent, fill open roles faster, and make data-driven hiring decisions. Hireology was rated No. 8 on G2’s 2023 list of 50 Best HR Products. With focused expertise in the retail automotive industry, 1 in 4 dealerships nationwide rely on Hireology for their hiring, HR and payroll needs, putting people at the center of their organizations. For more information, visit hireology.com. 20 Virginia Auto Dealer
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