Candidate Prep: Standing Out From the Pack, with Aimee Bateman

Has it ever been more difficult or daunting to interview for a position?

The world of work has changed immensely, and because of this expectations have risen on both sides of the interview desk. 

There’s an onus on candidates to present the best versions of themselves and to innately understand what organizations are looking for. However, there’s equal pressure for the interviewers themselves to provide a positive and equitable experience, to be clear in their ask, and entice talent to a role.

It’s quite a tricky ask, but how can you balance both of these realities? For SocialTalent, we believe the answer lies in our Candidate Prep Program.

What is the Candidate Prep Program?

The Candidate Prep Program is all about training and enabling candidates with expert-led content in a customized learning environment, all designed to help them interview better. We’ve teamed up with renowned career coach Aimee Bateman to create this content. With over 23 years of experience, and having conducted over 4,000 interviews herself, Aimee genuinely understands what a good interview looks like!

What does this mean?

The best interview processes always establish an atmosphere where candidates can flourish. By providing interviewee training before proceedings, companies demonstrate their commitment to supporting candidates to create a positive, equitable, and successful experience.

At SocialTalent, we’ve enabled thousands of recruiters and hiring managers to interview better. But if the same guidance isn’t afforded to candidates, there can be a big disconnect.

To dig deeper into the ‘why’ behind the Candidate Prep Program, we sat down with Aimee to get her thoughts.

Q: Why is it more important than ever to ensure that candidates are properly prepared for interviews?

Aimee: “From the candidate’s perspective, searching for a role can be quite stressful at times, especially when they really want the opportunity. Anything we can do to help them showcase their value and experience in the most effective way is beneficial for everyone involved. 

From the employer’s perspective, candidates who come prepared for interviews demonstrate genuine interest and can stand out as top contenders for the position.”

Q. Candidate experience is a huge challenge in the world of recruiting right now – how can this Candidate Prep training help to bolster this?

Aimee: “Good people go on good journeys and regardless of whether each candidate joins your team or not, the likelihood of them crossing your path, directly or indirectly, at some point in the future is high. 

They can show up as competitors, collaborators, customers, or suppliers and with so many online review sites and an ever-engaged workforce using social platforms, every touch point is an opportunity for them to build an opinion of your organization’s brand and shape its reputation. Providing Candidate Prep training bolsters candidate experience. It shows you’re invested in the success of your people.”

Q. Can you give us an overview of what this training covers?

Aimee: “This training dives into every step of the interview process. It starts at identifying whether the role is a good fit for you and your skills and goes on to explore mental barriers that we need to overcome to sell ourselves effectively – something many talented people struggle with. 

Once we’ve done that, we identify how to best prepare for the interview and how to navigate the outcome, whether the application was successful or not.”

Q. What do you hope that organizations will get from having this training, and how will end-users benefit?

Aimee: “By sharing this Candidate Prep Program, I hope organizations are met with well-prepared candidates who can confidently showcase their relevant value with clarity. As someone who has interviewed more than 4,000 candidates in their career, I know that always makes the role of hiring a smoother experience. 

But more than that, I hope the candidates recognize their own brilliance and can determine whether a role is right for them (or not)! And if they don’t get the job offer, they then have tools to navigate any disappointment and bounce back.”

Q. You’ve been in the industry of professional development for 20 years now – how crucial is it that organizations don’t also neglect the development of their internal talent on this front as well?

Aimee: “It’s 23 years now and I’m still loving it! We are living in an age of so much change, environmentally, socially, and technologically. All these changes impact how our sectors operate and how we compete. 

Nurturing your internal talent pipeline and providing a space for them to thrive is a must if you want to keep up with the demands and the opportunities that this innovation brings.”

Learn more: How Candidate Prep can elevate your internal talent pools.

Q. How is the concept of interviewing changing? And how does this training help people to adapt?

Aimee: “With the increase in virtual interviewing, the use of AI in both the application and the screening process, the focus on a person’s skills, competencies, and motivators has never been more important. Interview Prep helps these things shine through – no matter how interviewing changes.”

Looking to learn more about SocialTalent’s Candidate Prep Program? We have more details on this page, or, reach out to the team today!