We all know that job seeking is a job within itself. Nothing is more frustrating than applying for a position by uploading your thoughtfully-crafted resume and then having to enter the same information in a never-ending online form, to then never hear from the company again! Or maybe you do hear from the company, but it's to send you a rejection letter three months after applying. Or even better, you go through several interviews to be passed on with no feedback as to why you weren’t chosen. I come from the talent acquisition and recruitment industry, so I know a little bit about hiring processes. After going through their process, I believe that certain elements of the experience with Reloveution should be industry standard.
Reloveution has five core values: humanity, empathy, authenticity, relationships, trust. Every one of those values was embodied from the moment I read the job description to the moment I was hired. When I applied last fall, I knew nothing about the organization. Yet, I remember distinctly how I felt when reading the job description: surprised, pleased, and eager to see what was next. It was clear that this was an organization that puts people and HEART first and I wanted to be a part of it.
It's hard to describe the Reloveution hiring experience as just a process, because it felt much greater than that. Processes have a reputation of being draining and redundant, and to put it bluntly: time wasters. My experience with Reloveution actually felt worthwhile, whether I received an invitation to interview or not. Even after the interview, if I wasn’t offered the position I still felt like my time was well spent. Isn’t that something? My time as a jobseeker felt valued by the Reloveution team. The often missing element of humanity in hiring was prioritized and emphasized.
There were many touch points throughout the experience that felt caring and that were clearly designed to reach an unbiased conclusion on my background and interests as an applicant. As a young black woman, I didn’t feel that my chance at this opportunity would be marred by the typical biases I often wonder about influencing prospective employers. Reloveution used a blind application process that removed as many identifying markers as possible so the Reloveution team wouldn’t know names, demographics, faces, social media, or the like before getting to hear from the candidates through short answer question responses. Empathy was evident every step of the way.
When I researched Reloveution and its founder, as any jobseeker should, I found alignment between the hiring process and the message the organization broadcasts. It all started to click and make sense: Reloveution is different and lives by the words it preaches. I could see it on their website and socials, and the Youtube videos and more. The note of authenticity rang through everything.
When I was invited for the interview, I was ecstatic. I was also nervous about meeting such a thoughtful company and not knowing how to respond. When the time came, everything felt as natural as I could have imagined.
And through all this, the communication was clear and accurate. The deadlines were shared, early and often, and they were committed to them. Marissa and her team followed up and sent reminders, they didn’t bury any important information about responsibilities, expectations, goals, boundaries, and compensation. From the Indeed job posting to the interview questions, I felt that this employer would value me and my experiences, and I felt that I was able to get to know them as well. There wasn’t anything I regretted sharing, because I didn’t feel that it would unfairly impact my application even if something I shared wasn’t necessarily in my favor. I felt that I could trust Marissa and her team to do what they truly felt was best for Reloveution and even for me as a candidate. It was a rare opportunity, indeed.
That last value, trust, is so precarious in the workplace. Employers are usually trustworthy or they are not, and I typically expect the latter. Reloveution designed a trustworthy process that conveys their values without the applicant even realizing it. What is even cooler is that the process they used is fairly simple, straightforward, and can be easily duplicated - as it should be! This goes above and beyond what is expected of an employer, but I can’t imagine a better way to seek out an ideal candidate who aligns with your values than by modeling those values from the beginning. And I also can’t imagine a better way of building trust with potential candidates!
Reading through this, you may think I have rose colored glasses on, but I’m not one to sugar coat anything. I’m also aware that there are aspects of this organization that may be difficult to apply to some others. The takeaway is that organizations can be thoughtful in their hiring approach and create experiences that show candidates that organizations have heart too.
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If you’re interested in learning more about the specifics of Reloveution’s hiring process, check out our recent case study here: http://bit.ly/reloveutionaryhiring
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