Empowering Candidates: How UrbanBound Enhances the Hiring Journey

You only get one chance to make a first impression—especially with recruiting. This applies to employers as much as candidates.

If your hiring team likes a long-distance candidate enough to fly them in for an interview, they should bend over backwards to make a great impression in every possible way—before, during and after the visit.

So, don’t just roll out the red carpet. Give them information designed to pique their interest in your company and area. Answer questions before they’re asked. Wow them with your thoughtfulness.

And whatever you do: don’t leave them hanging with regards to expense reimbursement once they’ve come and gone.

Sound complicated? It doesn’t need to be—not with Candidate by UrbanBound. When it comes to empowering candidates, we cracked the code. So you can, too. 

The Secret Hopes & Fears of Long-Distance Candidates  

In order to successfully recruit long-distance candidates, you need to understand their mindset.

First of all, not everyone is willing to relocate. It takes a special kind of candidate. Typically, they do it for one or more of these reasons: 

• Higher compensation and benefits 
• Career advancement
• More attractive lifestyle (climate, cost of living, pace of life, proximity to family, etc.)   
• Greater work-life balance

Conversely, those who turn down a faraway job offer—often do so because: 

• Relocating is hard 
• Relocating is expensive
• They’re not 100% sure they trust the employer
• Fear of the unknown 
• Fear that they—or their family members—won’t adjust 

The truth is, while over 60% of workers say they’d move for a great gig, the number who actually do so is in the single digits. That’s a big divide.

So, how do you bridge this gap? How do you turn ‘No’ into ‘Yes!’?  By showing candidates that you’ll deliver on their hopes, resolve their worries—and support them every step of the way. That’s where we come in.

Put Your Best Look Forward   

Relocating employees have long embraced UrbanBound’s relocation platform for various reasons. One of the big ones: we put lots of invaluable info right at their fingertips, offer great guidance and keep them in the loop.   

Now, candidates can access the platform, too—even before they’re hired.  

That gives them access to all the information they most want to know. What it’s like to work at your company. Live in the area. The ins and outs of the housing market. 

This allows you to start selling them on your company and city even before their interview. They can even access our Co-worker Insights, a company-specific resource packed with insider tips and welcoming tidbits from potential future colleagues.

Before you know it, the unfamiliar isn’t unfamiliar any more. And because candidates are well-informed and prepared, they’re more comfortable with the interview process—so you can better see them for who they are—and better able to visualize themselves as part of your team.

Pay ‘em Back, Pronto

You know what one thing you absolutely should do before you extend a job offer to a long-distance candidate?

Reimburse them for their travel expenses.

Otherwise, you may seem like an employer who lets their people twist in the wind. Who wants to work for an employer like that, let alone move cross-country for them?

The problem is, most corporate accounting systems aren’t set up for these types of payments. Do you put them on payroll? Set them up as—ugh—net 30 vendors?

That’s why travel reimbursement often takes up to four to six weeks. That’s a long time for candidates to wonder if you’re going to repay them. The longer you make them wait, the more disenchanted they become—just as you’re about ready to make a job offer!

But thanks to the streamlining power of UrbanBound’s technology, this is no longer a thing. Candidates submit their expenses through our platform, and—voilà!—are reimbursed in just a few days. It’s painless for you and impressive for them.