People today have short attention spans. This is true even for a job candidate searching for work. That’s part of the reason ghosting remains a persistent problem for recruiters and hiring teams. Part of your efforts to bring on top talent must include engaging your candidate in the recruitment process. Remember, the candidate isn’t an employee until they make it to their first day on the job. These three techniques will ensure that you will get them there.
Candidate Engagement Tip 1—Create a Streamlined Application Process for Upfront Engagement
If you find a high volume of candidate abandons during the application process, it’s a red flag that your employment website isn’t getting the job done. We’ve all experienced long-drawn-out online application processes, particularly with enterprise organizations or other large bureaucracies like the government. Candidates today are used to the one-click application process that allows them to apply easily on any digital device. If your careers page and website is anything but brilliantly user-friendly, you may lose that job seeker before they ever send you their resume. Here’s the reality today: If it takes more than 15-minutes to apply for your job, you’re going to lose good candidates who are frustrated with the process. If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, you’ll have the same problem. Make sure you invest in the right technology to ensure a seamless application and candidate screening process to keep candidates engaged.
Candidate Engagement Tip 2—Create Engaging Ads that Make You a Careers Destination
Candidates do look at your ads. But if the advertisement is boring it won’t create a good first impression with the candidate. Use the job ad to communicate more than the key responsibilities of the position. Make the content witty, smart, and full of details about why your culture is the best place to work. Use the employment ad to build your brand and stand out amongst dozens of employers competing for the same talent. Job boards usually limit your ad to text, but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t have a smart video snippet on your careers page next to the advertisement. Use language that will appeal to the kind of candidate you’re seeking and always emphasize culture as much as you do hard and soft skills. You can use industry jargon to help you screen out a few candidates, but don’t overuse it. Also, make sure your ad is inclusive, and be careful that your ad isn’t agist or full of unconscious biases that would turn good candidates away. Use your advertisement to engage candidates by intriguing them about what they’re missing.
Candidate Engagement Tip 3—Engage Candidates During the Interview Process
Sometimes the candidate interview and hiring process takes time. There’s nothing you can really do about that. However, you should be talking regularly to any potential candidates that are going through the process to be sure they don’t lose interest. Keep candidates interested through a transparent process that defines what the steps are for hiring. Send them regular updates about their status. Invite them to company events or ask if they’d like to chat with one of your employees to see what culture is like. Send them great articles to read. Anything you can do to keep in touch with them will help ensure you don’t lose them to the competition.
Work With the Experts!
A good application tracking system like Exelare can automate many of these touchpoints to keep candidates interested. Talk with our team about how our engaging software can make your job a lot easier.
