How do you keep candidates engaged in the recruitment process?
Pure Human Resources Ltd
Award-winning HR, Recruitment and Training experts, established in 2012: delivering excellence in everything people.
A guide to good candidate experience:
If you’re finding it hard to not only attract but engage good job candidates in your recruitment process at the moment, there could be a number of reasons.?
If you’re promoting the vacancy in all the right places, offering the kind of salary a suitable candidate expects and attracting a good number of initial applications, but then find they all disappear when you start sending out interview invitations, you could be neglecting one vital thing.
In many sectors, the job market is currently very much in favour of the applicants, with many more job vacancies than candidates.?They can have their pick of job, and importantly their pick of employer. Unless you stand out from the crowd right from the start, you will miss out.
So how do you prove yourself a worthy employer to someone who hasn’t yet joined your company? How do you keep your hard-won candidates engaged in the recruitment process?
Candidate experience during the recruitment process is key.?How applicants perceive your company during this time is an important deciding factor in whether they pursue their application to the end, let alone accept a job offer.?The good news is there are things you can do to deliver excellent candidate experience.
Here are our top tips for offering good candidate experience and keeping candidates engaged throughout the recruitment process:
Consistent communication with candidates throughout the process is an important way to showcase yourself as a responsible and caring employer.
Once you have selected applicants to take forward in the recruitment process, let them know what that process looks like.
Be clear about the timeline.?You should know before you start the process when you are planning to hold interviews and when you expect to be making a decision – tell them so they can set their expectations accordingly
Tell them who will interview them.?Good candidates will appreciate the opportunity to do some research and it gives them an insight into the company structure and decision making process
Be clear about what you are offering successful candidates in exchange for their skills and experience.?Paying them a salary is not enough.?Employees expect more, particularly in today’s job market where you need to stand out from competing recruiters.?What does your employee benefits package look like – is it actually good value (Offering a pension and free fruit Friday isn’t going to cut it)??What else can you provide – do your offer personal development opportunities and a clear career progression path?
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People don’t just choose job titles, they choose companies and brands.?Candidates want to work for companies whose values and behaviours, align with their own.??Consider your approach to key topics such as equality, diversity & inclusion in the workplace. ?(And if you’re not proud to shout about your position or reputation, then maybe it’s time to do something about it – talk to us about positive steps you can take to reduce discrimination and improve awareness around equality, diversity and inclusion in your organisation)
Recruitment agencies often hide the name of a company they’re working for until after applications have been made but one of the benefits of recruiting with Pure Human Resources, is that we recruit as ‘you’, using your company name on the job adverts.?This helps to ensure that applicants have the chance to check whether you’re a good match for them before they even apply, (and you’ll know that applicants are already on board with your company values).
If you’ve managed to attract good candidates, and have held on to them so far with the help of your impressive benefits package and fantastic brand values, then keeping them engaged right to the end of the process is your next challenge.?Always remember that candidates may have applied for other roles and may be involved in several recruitment processes at the same time.?If you are interested in them, don’t delay or you could miss out.?
Hold interviews in a timely many and don’t draw the process out any longer than necessary.?More than one interview can even be too many in some circumstances.?Be able to make offers as soon after interview as you can, and at the very least be clear about when decisions will be made.?We hear too often about recruiters making an offer to a candidate they love a week after interview, only to find the candidate has accepted another role the day before because they thought they hadn’t been successful.
Let them know of your decision in a timely manner – ghosting candidates is never acceptable.?And, whilst you may not be able to offer them a job, you can offer them constructive feedback on their application to improve their chances of success in the future.?Disgruntled candidates can do a lot of damage to your reputation as an employer if you’re not careful.?
Asking for feedback about the process from both successful and rejected candidates will help you understand how the process went from a candidate perspective.?Did they get enough information from you??Did they feel frustrated at any point??Did they feel valued??Not only will this help you improve the process for next time, but it will also show you to be an employer that cares about how people feel.
Doing all the above will greatly improve your chances of attracting and engaging candidates in the recruitment process and will be a step towards ensuring your chosen candidate accepts your offer. But whilst good recruitment practice reaps the rewards, it does require a commitment of your time and focus – and this is where Pure Human Resources can really help.
In addition to advertising your vacancy, our specialist recruitment consultant takes on the time-consuming process of sifting and shortlisting your applicants.?We act efficiently, reviewing new applicants every day and forwarding good candidates for you to interview in a timely manner.?We also communicate with unsuccessful applicants on your behalf.?All you need to do is be ready to interview and be in a position to make swift decisions!
Get in touch to find out more about Pure Human Resources’ Fixed Fee Recruitment solution and discuss how we can help you fill your vacancy.