When star candidates turn down job offers, it’s a frustrating experience for companies. It takes a lot of time to find qualified people, and when they decide to go elsewhere before they’ve even started it’s quite the setback.
What went wrong? Did they receive a better job offer? Did their employer panic at the thought of losing them and offer more money? Was the negotiation process too time-consuming?
The answer could be “yes” to all of those things. Even so, companies that scurry to re-evaluate their on-boarding processes may be addressing the wrong issue.
Maybe the problem isn’t what happens after the interview. Instead, it might be a lack of great candidates to begin with that limit your choices to people who weren’t too enthusiastic to begin with.
Look a little earlier in your candidate pipeline. If great prospects don’t bother applying or following through, you’ve got a talent-repellant recruitment process on your hands. Consider taking these four steps to improve the experience.
Optimizing the Applicant Tracking System
Applicant tracking systems (ATS) are frustrating, redundant, and take up a lot of time. You’re asked to enter information that’s already on your resume, navigate through a ridiculous number of pages, and if you happen to accidentally close the page, you need to enter all that information again.
Perhaps the most offensive part of an ATS is that there is very little guarantee a human will ever review the application. Imagine a qualified candidate who’s interested in your company encountering this process. There’s very little incentive for them to keep going. They’ll just stay at their current job or take an interview at another organization.
Of course, applicant tracking systems keep things efficient, so there’s little chance of entirely eliminating them. Instead, seek alternatives. Even better, go through the ATS yourself. If you can barely get through it, it’s time to fix it or find a better one.
A Hiring Process That Takes Too Long
Don’t assume applicants apply to jobs one at a time. There are critical spots where companies need to send out timely communications.
If you notice a promising application, set up an interview as soon as possible. After the interview, don’t go radio silent just because you have to interview other people. Let a candidate know when they can expect to hear back and if there’s a delay, shoot them an email that honestly explains where you are in the decision-making process. These are human beings, and they understand things take time. They just don’t know whether a company’s worth waiting for if it offers minimal communication.
Mobile-Friendly Job Postings
A 2014 survey found that 89 percent of job seekers expected to look for work on their phone. Offering mobile-friendly job applications makes it convenient for people to find your job openings, especially for people who are currently employed and casually looking at what’s out there.
Simplify the process so applicants can apply through their phone and format posts so they’re easy to read on a handheld device.
Create a Recruitment Marketing Strategy
You aren’t just selling your brand to customers. You’re selling it to potential employees as well.
Naturally, the people you want working for you are very desirable to other companies, so they have several choices at their disposal. Attracting talent should be part of your marketing strategy. This recruitment marketing strategy must present a compelling employee value proposition, identify the characteristics of an ideal candidate, and create campaigns to draw in the right people.
Talented people are your company’s best resource, and attracting as many of them as possible should be a priority.
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