More detailed advancement opportunities and long term career growth roadmaps are increasingly more popular questions candidates are looking for answers to during their interviews. If there isn’t a clear answer on what the next job title would be, there should still be some detailed plans on increasing responsibilities over time, performance review schedules, and a clear path for professional development. To help you communicate this effectively, you can put it all together like an elevator pitch, clearly communicating what your organization does, why it does it, what the specific team does to support this, and what the employee should expect to gain from joining the team. Candidates have been putting in the work to help sell themselves to you, its time to reciprocate the effort! Instead of just expecting to hear how they will make a great addition to the team, let them know what the team structure is like, where you expect them to fit in, and any plans for growth in the near future.
You can strive to discuss what you realistically do for your employees to genuinely meet their life and career goals, or show off that you will treat them like people, not robots or just another number. For example, if you have ever had an employee leave for a higher salary and then come back because they preferred your team environment, brag about it! Or give success stories of employees who were quickly promoted to new positions, if you provide employer sponsored certifications or educational reimbursements. In this market, you should make sure to discuss the outlook of the industry your organization operates in, especially if the business model is resilient to turbulent conditions or if it is “recession proof”. Employees want to know if you have a plan in place to help avoid layoffs and retain them if they are valuable to the bottom line.
