Making a good first impression is a big deal.

When you think of a good first impression in relation to hiring you might think of the experience of a job seeker. But good first impressions go both ways; it's critical that hiring teams provide the best first impression of their organization.

How you conduct your hiring processes says a lot about your organization, and job seekers readily communicate those details to one another by word of mouth as well as through services like Glassdoor. The reputation of your organization depends upon following healthy hiring practices.

So what can you do to make a good impression of your organization to job seekers? Here are three goals and criteria to judge your current practices:

1. Minimize impediments to submitting applications.

Job seekers shouldn't have to jump through hoops to apply to your openings. Every impediment you add will result in fewer applicants. Some of these impediments may be necessary, but be critical about what actually is necessary versus nice to have. At a bare minimum:

• They shouldn't need to sign up to a service to submit an application for a job.
• They shouldn't need to answer unnecessary questions or provide a litany of information. Ask what is necessary but no more.
• They should be able to read and complete an application on whatever device they're using, and the experience should not be sub-par. That is especially true for smartphones, since that's how most job seekers find and apply to jobs.
• They should be involved in the necessary amount of screens and interviews but no more.

2. Meet your applicants where they are.

• Make your hiring processes accessible.
  For example, most job seekers search for jobs using their smartphone. Therefore you are doing yourself a disservice if your candidate experience is not friendly on mobile devices.

• Weigh your hiring criteria for what matters most. Many applicants won't check 100% of the boxes. In many cases, that's actually OK. It's healthy to communicate this to prospective applicants so that they don't second guess submitting an application.

3. Keep communication open and expectations apparent.

• Clearly communicate expectations when hiring, including a timeline of when various stages of the process will happen. Even if your timeline doesn't exactly play out in reality, it's an important gesture and you should refine it to make it as accurate as possible.
• Once applicants are in your pipeline, continue to communicate expectations as they advance or are rejected. Don't leave them hanging!

• Reduce the opportunity for human error.
  Follow good folder hygiene: organize your documents to avoid mixing documents from different applicants.
  When communicating, consider using templates to personalize messages.