Rethinking Talent Acquisition: Making the Process Work for Everyone

Employers frequently cite talent shortages and struggle to fill open positions with qualified candidates. At the same time, many job seekers report being unable to land jobs despite having relevant skills and experience. This mismatch points to systemic issues in how companies' source, screen and select talent. As automation and outdated practices create barriers, huge numbers of potential candidates struggle to get through the hiring funnel. As a result, organizations are missing out on accessing large swaths of the available workforce.

To create a more effective and inclusive talent acquisition process, companies need to re-examine traditional hiring norms and better leverage technology. Here are a few of the pain points from job seekers and ways employers can address them.

Accurate Job Descriptions Increase Appropriate Applicants

Let's start with something basic. Many job descriptions have an impossibly long list of required qualifications, competencies and “nice-to-have” skills. For example, a recent study from Harvard and Accenture found that 38% of employers either used the same template or only slightly modified it for a similar job description. Some of these are even templates straight from an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) rather than the company itself. Not only do these laundry lists discourage otherwise qualified candidates from applying, they result in prolonged vacancies in critical roles. It's not uncommon for these descriptions to include outdated or obsolete tools, further adding to the confusion.

Organizations should consider starting from scratch when writing job descriptions and involving hiring managers and employees. This collaboration helps pinpoint the core technical and soft skills truly needed for success in a role, rather than perpetuating a wish list. It also builds in an understanding of which qualifications are “must-haves” versus “nice-to-haves.” With a streamlined set of must-have competencies, candidates can self-select and assess fit more accurately. Recognizing that many skills are transferrable, such as between industries, or tools with similar concepts, increases the talent pool. Periodic re-evaluation of requirements will help prevent outdated criteria from being preserved.

Rigid job descriptions not only deter potential applicants but also negatively impact diversity. Research has already proven that minority groups such as women will only apply for a job if they meet 100% of the criteria. In order to decrease bias and increase applicant diversity, the descriptions themselves need to be more accurate and exclude language that does not resonate with underrepresented groups, a phenomenon referred to as gender coding .

Adjusting Automation Can Expand the Talent Pool

Applicant tracking systems (ATS) are prized for their ability to swiftly filter and rank large applicant pools into a smaller set of qualified candidates. However, many implement this filtering in a way that disproportionately rejects viable applicants with non-traditional backgrounds.

For example, 48% of employers configure their ATS to automatically reject applicants with an employment gap of over 6 months. This screens out those on medical leave, veterans, long term unemployed, and plenty of other viable candidates. Others screen out those without a college degree, even for roles where it is not a proven predictor of success.

Rather than negative screening, technology should focus on skills-based matching and consider candidates’ transferable abilities from diverse experiences. Configuring systems to seek specific competencies and capabilities, not just credentials and employment continuity, can expand and diversify the candidate pool. AI-powered semantic search and data analytics can also help surface promising applicants from previously overlooked talent segments such as those returning to the workforce, veterans, relocating partners, or those from less advantaged backgrounds. This not only ensures fair consideration but also enriches the organization with a diverse range of talents and perspectives.

User-Friendly Application Processes Increase Submissions

The typical convoluted, lengthy application process acts as another obstacle, discouraging perfectly qualified candidates from completing applications. One report found 60% of job seekers abandon applications due to complexity, while another saw the average corporate application take over an hour to complete. Who has that kind of time and energy to waste?

Applying the same user experience (UX) principles from customer-facing interactions, would simplify and streamline applications to improve conversion rates for employers - it's basic marketing. This includes providing clear, jargon-free instructions, limiting required fields to essentials and making the process mobile-responsive. By incorporating a description of the process, expected timelines, and a clean, user-friendly interface, the application submission becomes exponentially easier.

Well-designed, candidate-friendly application procedures demonstrate that the company values job seekers’ time. After all, a job application is a form of customer experience (CX), just like any other interaction with a company. Riddle me this. Companies go to great lengths to ensure a seamless and intuitive experience (i.e. Enjoyable UX ) for their vendors in supply chain or procurement interactions. So why do companies tolerate and perpetuate the complexity, ineffectiveness and inconvenience of submitting a job application?

Feedback to Applicants Improves Relationships and Reputation

The concept of feedback can make recruiters bristle. The job search is a grueling cycle where candidates spend hours of their time and energy researching and completing take home projects, only to hear nothing. In some cases, interviewers are no-shows, leaving candidates defeated. Or worse, interviews are cancelled because the first candidate already accepted an offer, crushing one's confidence.

However the “black hole” where candidates hear nothing back after submitting applications remains far too common today. While individually contacting every applicant is not realistic, sending automated confirmations when materials are received and template rejection notices at minimum provides basic courtesy. Even generic feedback demonstrates respect for candidates’ time invested and helps them improve their approach for future opportunities.

The lack of feedback is a frustration shared by most job seekers. Aretha Franklin said it best - 'All I'm askin' is for a little respect.' Providing even the most basic feedback is a simple way for companies to bridge the gap between frustration and respect. It can help rebuild trust in the job application process and create a positive cycle of interaction, where candidates and recruiters both feel valued.

Change in Motivation

Recruiter motivation plays a pivotal role in the hiring process, both agency and corporate recruiting. The challenge is that, without transparency into how hiring decisions are made, flaws and biases often persist undetected. Companies rely on metrics around cost minimization and speed, which can lead to poor hiring decisions. It's time for a fundamental shift in mindset, where quality of hire and the quality of the process take center stage.

Instead, organizations should track key analytics like candidate experience, evaluate why qualified applicants get rejected at different stages, candidate diversity, and survey new hires on their onboarding experience. In other words, moving from easy metrics to effective metrics. Such data helps diagnose where unconscious bias may be creeping in, quality of hire and how existing processes fall short. Ongoing monitoring ensures best practices are followed across the organization. Companies that embrace this shift in motivation and prioritize the quality of their hires will reap the benefits of a more diverse, skilled, and engaged workforce, ultimately leading to greater organizational success.

Wrap Up

Employers are well aware that their job descriptions have unrealistic expectations.? For high-skill hires, only 21% of employers reported that all of their high-skills hires over the previous 3 years met all of the job requirements listed in their job postings. There are even federal guidelines regarding the correlation between a job description and a candidate. Given how complicated job descriptions are, ATS hurdles and poor motivations for recruiting, how any candidate gets hired is magic to me.

The solutions to today’s hiring challenges require both technology investments, process redesigns and a mindset shift by companies. But above all, organizations must challenge conventional wisdom that has allowed talent acquisition practices to stagnate. Rethinking long-held assumptions around talent will allow companies to access a far wider spectrum of human potential.

#recruiting #talentmanagement #opentowork #jobsearch #hiring #recruiterlife