Why You Should Streamline Your Application Process

Have you invested in attracting the attention of the best talent in the market? Asking candidates to go

Have you invested in attracting the attention of the best talent in the market? Asking candidates to go through redundant, complicated or overly long processes to apply for a role could hurt how they view your employer brand and cause them to abandon their application altogether. For example, this digital recruitment study found application rates plunging by 365% when applications took more than 15 minutes to complete. Having a clear, directed path for candidates with less steps overall not only builds confidence for candidates but also makes life so much easier for you!

Why you shouldn’t ignore your recruitment path

It’s tempting to go all out in advertising your vacancies with flashy graphics and paying more to get them in front of your audience online. If, however, candidates come to apply and find the process to be slow, laborious or out of date, then you run the risk of losing those quality candidates you’ve fought to acquire.

These problems are particularly exacerbated on a mobile device when actions have to be performed on a smaller screen. With mobile usage for job searching continuing to grow, can you afford to miss out these candidates? The same study, for example, found an average of only 1.5% of mobile users who clicked through to a job application actually completed it, as opposed to 8% of desktop users. This would significantly lower the return on investment for any campaign based around driving more candidates to apply. 

90% of recruiters say that recruitment was candidate-driven (MRI Network Recruiter Sentiment Study) – This puts more emphasis than ever before on sustaining candidate satisfaction throughout the process. If they’re frustrated with trying to apply, then they will head elsewhere.

89% of Glassdoor users are actively looking for a job (Glassdoor) Candidates are seeing reviews on Glassdoor of people, not just who’ve worked for the company, but who are specifically reviewing their recruiting experiences. Studying this feedback could tell you exactly when candidates are experiencing issues. Streamlining your application process will help resources like this become key to attracting available talent through the advocacy of previous candidates who’ve had good experiences.

On average, a corporate job opening attracts 250 resumes. Of these candidates, four to six will be called for an interview and only one will be offered the job. (ERE Survey, 2013) – We are all faced with these kind of figures on a weekly basis, but do we have the most efficient systems in place to tackle this volume systematically and methodically and not let the right candidate slip through?

How can an applicant tracking system help with streamlining?

An applicant tracking system (ATS) helps you manage the hiring process through automating the storage of candidate and job post information as well as monitoring the movement of candidates through the recruitment process. This frees you up to use your expertise where human judgement is needed, such as in final interviews. An ATS could also help save time screening out unsuitable candidates with pre-interview screening questionnaires instead of telephone interviews. As well as cutting down on the review time and providing candidates with instant answers, a digital system ensures that the application process is fair and free from human bias.

Key recruiter actions as to streamline your application process

Candidate self-screening – Each job has unique qualities that a candidate might be more or less suited to. For example, while not everyone relishes the thought of working in a fast-paced, high pressure environment, some candidates will find this offers them the dynamism and fast progression they need. Providing honest details about the role in your job advert and will allow candidates to self-screen, delivering only suitable candidates before application begins.

Efficient management of social media channelsHaving one person running the company’s social media account isn’t necessarily the most efficient way to manage social media recruiting. Tools such as Hootsuite promote efficiency and collaboration by allowing multiple users to monitor and respond across a range of social media platforms from a single dashboard. Want to save on time spent trawling through social media accounts for potential candidates? Software such as Entelo Search will create candidate profiles from more than 50 online sources.

Offer alternatives to face to face interview  Could a video interview via Skype, Google Hangout or Facetime serve the same purpose, while providing flexibility for the candidate? When faced with time and geographical issues, don’t be tied to the age old face to face interview and instead impress candidates with the greater accessibility and relating to them through their preferred platforms.

Know where your candidates come from – Keep and regularly review a record of where your candidates are sourced from, especially the most successful ones. If a particular source isn’t yielding success, do you know why and how you could change this? If you know where your pool of quality candidates comes from then you can target this further and make it easier for them to find your online application process.

Use of technology – Implementing technology in your recruitment process such as self-filling application forms in mobile apps makes life easier for recruiters and candidates alike. Utilise technology such as Facebook’s job’s tab; The “Apply Now” button that appears alongside job roles will make applying easier by creating applications with information already filled in from the user’s profile

Make streamlining your recruitment paths a priority

Having a standardised and streamlined application process will help cut down on time and resources spent on recruitment. In turn, this will help you to attract the relevant, quality candidates you need.

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If you’d like to speak to Enhance Media about streamlining your application process please email [email protected] or call us on 01483 719020.

Enhance Media

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