Why isn't the right person applying for our job?

When we’re brought in to consult on a role it’s most often because it’s already been open for some time. Maybe a month or two with no results, but we’ve also been asked to help with roles that have remained unfilled for six months to a year. For one reason or another, the right applicant hasn’t come to the table yet, and understandably the company is trying to find out why. It’s usually a very similar story: the job is posted, it’s easy to locate on the company website, but for some reason, it’s just not drawing the right applicant.?

Of course, every role is different, but in most cases, the issue comes down to advertising or process - both of which we can help you address. We’ll focus on advertising first and the process after that.?

The job isn’t posted widely enough?

This happens a lot for smaller to medium sized companies that don’t have a lot of name recognition. Candidates aren’t really looking for your specific company because they don’t know about it. So if the role is only posted to your company website or 1-2 other job boards, you’re just not quite reaching your target audience. Candidates gravitate to company names they know or job boards they hear a lot about. So they might search the Capital One careers page, but they probably won’t think to search for every small financial consulting business in their area to check their career pages. Job boards are a separate but related issue, they seem like a great resource, but even if you’re posting to a fairly popular board it’s easy for your posting to get buried under others with similar titles in your location. Take today on Indeed for instance, on a random October Wednesday there are 12 pages of new results for Software Developer openings in Washington, DC. And it’s only 1 PM. Unless you’re being incredibly diligent about refreshing your posting every day and pushing it up to the top of most recent additions, it’s going to get buried.?

This is often one of the first areas we address when we take over sourcing on a role. It’s our job to identify your ideal candidate and come up with a plan that reaches them quickly and efficiently. We’ll target more niche-specific job boards or Linkedin groups, create marketing campaigns with directed targeting, and more. It’s time-consuming for sure, but it’s the best way to cut through the noise of the big boards and shine a spotlight on a smaller organization.?

The job is posted too widely?

Many job boards now have a crawling function that takes your posting and plasters it...well everywhere. Every corner of the internet gets a link to your job posting. Most of those links come with “quick apply” or “easy submit” functions that let a candidate use their prefilled profile on that site to instantly apply to your job. When the application is that easy most candidates won’t take the time to read your job description in depth. If you’ve started to see a lot of low-effort applications that don’t quite make sense, this is probably why. It’s incredibly frustrating, and usually a waste of your team’s time to filter through those generic quick apply responses. Another major benefit external recruiting support can add is making sure those low-effort applications aren’t bogging the team down. We do the first screen with candidates so you can move directly to speaking with only the ones who meet your salary and skill requirements.?

The posting is missing key selling points?

One of the first questions I always ask hiring managers is “tell me about a day in the life of someone doing this job”. It helps me as someone who’s never done most of the jobs I’m recruiting for, but it also helps hiring managers to articulate the unique highlights of a role. It’s also a great way to approach writing a job description. Paint the picture for applicants of what life looks like at your company, the day-to-day responsibilities, challenges, and rewards. Most postings are pretty vague and don’t really give candidates a sense of what the job actually entails, so writing yours in a way that helps them really understand the role will immediately set you apart.?

It’s also true that many candidates are looking for a fully remote opportunity right now. If that’s yours, make sure it’s front and center on the job posting. Things like fully paid health benefits, education allowances, flexible schedules, and unlimited PTO set a company apart - so make sure they’re easily visible!?

The title is too specific to your organization?

Even if your company uses organization-specific job titles a job posting typically shouldn’t. A mid-level inside sales rep isn’t searching for a job called “Client Engagement Manager” or “Customer Success Coordinator”. That’s just one example, but the basic premise here is you have to think about the job title your ideal candidate is most likely to be searching for. In my inside sales days my actual titles ranged from Client Care Specialist to Training Advisor, to Customer Success Manager, and finally Customer Retention Lead. In all of those roles the basic responsibilities and requirements were the same, and when I was job searching I’d generally look for some version of “Inside Sales”. We can help with this - when we start working on a role we’ll discuss the titles your ideal candidates probably have now and help you optimize the posting so they’ll see your role as a logical next step.?

The application process

What is the actual process of applying to your job like for candidates? How much time does it take them? I always think it’s a good idea for hiring managers to go through their own application process. Fill out the application from start to finish and upload all the same documentation that a candidate would be asked for. Could you save and come back? Did you have to switch browsers? Did the resume scanner import some of your information incorrectly? Starting here usually gives you some clues about where candidates might be getting stuck.?

Here are some of the other most frequent problems we see.?

The application asks for too much detail upfront??

If you’re requiring candidates to fill out a lengthy application you might be seeing a high drop off between candidates starting the application and actually completing it. Many candidates aren’t prepared when they first start an application to provide exact dates of old employment (especially for jobs more than a few years old) or they don’t have contact information for old managers, exact pay rates, and other details easily accessible at that moment. So they leave it for later, and other more straightforward applications take precedence in their job search. Even if you do need all of those details eventually (like for a security screen or background check) chances are good you don’t need that much detail upfront. The easiest fix is to shorten the application to just basic contact information. The final candidates can complete the long form version after receiving an offer or later in the later stages of the interview process.?

A cover letter is required??

If you’re requiring a cover letter my first question is always why? Is there a specific question you’re asking candidates to address in that cover letter? Does it carry more weight than the candidate’s resume? For example: would your team interview a candidate who had very little relevant experience because their cover letter was excellent??

This is about making the process simpler for both candidates AND the team. If cover letters aren’t being carefully considered or wouldn’t sway the team, they aren’t adding value to your process. Even candidates who are actively in search of a new job can be scared off by an application with dozens of questions or a firm requirement for a cover letter. Just like long applications, if they get stopped at a cover letter submission it’s easy to leave it for later and never come back.?

I do understand that cover letters are a great place for candidates to answer questions like - why this particular job? or why do you see yourself working for our company long term? Cover letters can also be a huge benefit to candidates who are changing careers, coming off of an employment gap, or don’t seem like an obvious fit for other reasons - but those are all questions a good recruiter will ask when doing their initial screen with the candidates.?

If there IS a specific question you want every candidate to answer up front, that can easily be a question box in the application itself. This saves candidates time and is more straightforward to review than opening lots of attachments.?

The job description is scaring candidates away?

It’s very rare for a company to hire someone who checks every single box on the job description. Most hires are a compromise in some way or another. But women especially see a long list of requirements and talk themselves out of applying if they don’t meet every single one. If a job posting isn’t gaining much traction it’s worth going back to the drawing board and making sure all the skills you’ve listed really ARE essential to someone in that role. You want to make sure you’re describing the scope and responsibilities as accurately as possible - but you don’t want to add so much detail that the role appears unattainable. From the candidate’s point of view - if you’re trying to focus your search on opportunities where you have the best possible chance of success, the roles that seem most like a stretch will be the lowest priority as you’re filling out applications.?

It is hard to get your roles in front of candidates, especially in this job market for smaller companies without instant name recognition. But you can take small steps to make the process straightforward for candidates and ultimately easier on your hiring team. The goal is to successfully find the right person as quickly as possible and a simplified application process benefits everyone.

Need to hire? We can help! This article was written by?Alyssa Thomas and Benjamin Mena?who are Managing Partners of?Select Source Solutions?which?is a boutique executive recruitment firm specializing in Data Science, Cyber Security, Talent Acquisition, and Government Contracting.

If you’d like to have a conversation about employee retention, growing your team, or hiring plans for the rest of the year, please get in touch!?[email protected]

Join me on upcoming episodes of the?Elite Recruiter Podcast?on?Apple?or?Spotify!