The rising rates of candidates ignoring employers can be blamed on the strong labor market. Increased hiring for recent graduates, low unemployment rates and the option to choose from multiple job offers has turned the job market into a job seeker’s market.
Nevertheless, a negative candidate experience may also account for the increase in the way job seekers ignore an organization.
Consequently, there are many ways to optimize the hiring process and improve retention rates for job seekers. The following are ways to prevent job seekers from ignoring you.
1. Communicate the Timeline for the Hiring Procedure
Bear in mind that candidate ghosting is not always intentional. However, it may be a result of a misunderstanding about the recruitment timeline.
What recruiters think of as ignoring may be a result of a cumbersome or slow application process in which candidates do not know when they will get feedback. This will make them look elsewhere for employment.
To prevent job seekers from ignoring you, ensure you maintain transparency throughout the hiring process. Provide a realistic timeline so that candidates will have an idea of what to do next. By keeping the recruitment process understandable, it is less likely that job seekers will ignore you.
2. Personalize the Application Process
Candidates want to be treated will care, not just as applicants. To make this work, face-to-face interaction is essential, whether it is done in-person or through a Zoom meeting. Although it’s unlikely to assume that your organization meets with each candidate, in-person interaction is important once it comes to the interview stage.
3. Incorporate the Job Seekers Goals and Career Development into the Recruitment Process
During the interview, don’t only talk about the organization’s goals. The interview goes both ways. Candidates are also interviewing the company and they want to see the reasons why they should work with you.
More specifically, some employees rank professional development opportunities as the major reason for working for a company. They prioritize their learning and development more than company prestige or compensation.
Additionally, it’s ideal to integrate professional development and company goals into the recruitment process through resume reviews, networking events, and industry chats.
4. Provide Additional Benefits
If your organization is hiring in a fast-growing industry where job seekers’ demand is more than supply, your company needs to bring many benefits to the table.
A job seeker who has scheduled many interviews at different organizations has the chance of getting many offers. Therefore, you will need to ensure your benefits can attract them.
While job seekers should be more open with recruiters, the human resource team should also respect their candidates and respond to follow-up emails about their recruitment process.
Finally, respectful and timely communication makes a more pleasant application experience for both recruiters and candidates.