Provide a fantastic candidate experience. Every single time. No exceptions.

Candidates spend a lot of time researching your company, tweaking their resume, and applying for a job. Return the favor.

Shoot candidates an email, even if you’re not interested in their resume (and even if you use a canned response, make sure it doesn’t read like one). Call when you say will. Call to reject people if you’ve interviewed them, and give them an honest response on why they didn’t get the job.

If you make candidates feel good even when they’re not getting the job, they’ll probably tell people. If you make them feel like crap about it, they’ll definitely tell people. And then you’ll have a harder time recruiting.