All the recruiters and hiring managers have something to say about the lack of professionalism and behavior of the candidates. However, it may be the right time to look in the mirror. Take into account the fact that your hiring practices may be wasting the prospect’s time. it is also possible that you are confusing and driving away from the best candidates in the process. All the top organizations concentrate on these touchpoints such as suppliers, customers, and of course the candidates. You need to take care of the overall experience of the candidates. Here is how you can do it.
- Offer a specific and clear job description: If the job description is vague, it irritates the prospects. It appears to them as if you are not sure about what you are looking for and have not spent sufficient time setting up the job profile. It feels as if you have just cut pasted from another job description that you have used earlier. All great hiring managers make sure that they are not taking shortcuts. Take time to write down the tasks for the job. Explain what is in it for the candidates. One of the worst-case scenarios is that you are just going through the motions and an internal candidate is already selected and the deal is done.
- Make things simple for qualified candidates: The modern trend is to get the prospects to apply through your web portal or some other way online. If you are going to use this method, try to do this yourself and note things such as the time it takes to upload a resume. Make sure that it doesn’t hang or crash in the process. If you feel frustrated in the process, the applicant will feel more so and if it is taking too long, he will walk away. Make sure that your procedures are not cumbersome. Always confirm the receipt for all applications as it is a polite thing to do.
- Quicken up the end-to-end processing: Many hiring procedures take months together. Find out the bottlenecks where you can smoothen the process and reduce the time factor. Keep in mind that candidates have other alternatives as well. You don’t want to waste time here and find out later that the prospect has received a better offer in the meantime. You can tell the candidate about how long the hiring process is going to take from beginning to end and how many interviews they will have to face. You can use services such as the employer of records to improve the hiring process.
- Communication must be good: Keep the prospects in the loop all the time. You may call them up even when you do not have any news to convey. All applicants will be appreciative if they are aware of where they stand. Use the method they prefer for communication. Never call them at work, rather, leave a message for them to call you back. Provide some feedback after the interviews. What the candidates hate the most is silence so address them after an interview.
- Use the recruitment process as a marketing opportunity: Customers can be candidates and vice versa. Provide them open access to yourself. This allows them to feel as if they are in control. The idea is to leave the candidates feeling warm about your company even if they were not successful in landing a job. The different social media platforms are an open opportunity for poorly managed and disgruntled candidates. One of the last things you want to see is your organization getting thrashed on Facebook or Twitter because it failed to meet the expectations of the applicant.
Conclusion
Try your best to provide a simple road to all the people who have taken interest in your job application. Another good way of testing this is to ask one of your colleagues or even your team manager to apply for the job listing and find out how it goes. The recruitment procedure must be straightforward enough to attract people that were not even looking for a job change. This is when you are going to find the best talent available. This is the time when you and the candidates will both be happy.
