Today’s job market is not only competitive but also employee driven, which means that the ball is often in the candidate’s court. In general, employers are finding that the hiring process requires a little bit more elbow grease to connect with qualified candidates on platforms that are also crowded with competitors.
So, what is a successful, growing company to do to recruit the right talent? The answer lies in the application process. The reality is that, if it’s not easy to apply, candidates are going to quickly move on to the next company that catches their eye. The great news is that it’s pretty simple to identify and remove barriers to the hiring process to bring in top talent. Here are five ways to do that.
Streamline the application process: Put yourself in a candidate’s shoes and take inventory of how many steps they have to take to apply for your position. If there are easily identifiable snags or unnecessary clicks, no matter how seemingly insignificant, figure out a way to remove them. Every additional step they must take is another chance to lose them.
Provide enough company information: Depending on where you are posting your position, there may be additional company information readily available, but that doesn’t mean you should make them look for it. Include attention-grabbing information about your company within your job description to keep the candidate excited and engaged until they hit “submit.”
Don’t exclude qualified candidates: It can be tempting to list out every single “nice to have” skill when writing a job description, but it’s important to take a good and hard look at what the most important skills and required experience actually are. Finding a balance between must-haves and nice-to-haves, and being transparent about it, is a sweet spot in the hiring world.
Be clear about the salary: Excluding salary information from a job posting is a critical mistake that many employers make, coming from a misguided and outdated philosophy that a candidate will apply if they are truly interested and work out the salary specifics later. In an employee-driven market, money talks and candidates expect to be paid what they are worth. Being transparent saves you both time in the long run.
Keep the focus on the employee: Hiring for a position is like going on a first date. If you only talk about yourself, you probably aren’t going to get a call back because your date will find someone who listens. When crafting your job description, keep the employee’s needs at the top of your mind and consider how you can appeal to them instead of droning on about how great your company is.
If Avanti can help you source, engage and interview top talent, we would love to talk.