Remember the good ole days when all you had to do for your recruitment process was post a job in a newspaper? You paid by the word, got local candidates, and then hired one. The world of advertising was much simpler then. All employees worked in a single office, so location was the primary driver of determining your talent pool.
In a lot of ways, job descriptions were like telegrams:<Looking for Sales Person> STOP
<Must be willing to travel> STOP
<Should have experience selling copiers> STOP
<Mail resume to XXXX>. STOP
Pretty simplistic.
Then the internet was introduced to recruiting, and the world went to hell in a handbasket.
Working with your recruiting language became much easier. You suddenly had unlimited space to describe the job, benefits, perks, and culture, so location became just another keyword in a sea of filters candidates could use to find you online. The workforce mobilized, as well – people started working out of coffee shops, garages, offices, workspaces and a slue of other locations.
Today, there are millions of job seekers and qualified candidates throughout the web. They should all be at your fingertips, right?
So why aren’t you getting anyone to apply to your job?
There are lots of potential reasons. Let’s break it down:
- You are not the only one who can now reach millions of other candidates. You are competing for eyeballs, time and the commitment to engage in the process.
- The focus and speciality of the job board that you’re posting on matters. What type of person are you looking for?
- Entry-level or hourly.
- Skilled or hourly.
- Professional contractors.
- Professional full-time.
- Your job is unfindable. Remember to make your job searchable by a candidate. What would a candidate type in to find your job? Be plain and simple. Don’t get too cute and playful with your job title – it might seem like you will stand out, but you may find instead that your job matches other searches candidates type in and then lots of people may click on it (which can get expensive if you are paying on a per-click basis), but they are the wrong people and they don’t convert to candidates.
- Your description is unruly and long. This newfound freedom of the internet has opened the doors for job descriptions by committee and everyone gets a say: the lawyers, the HR person, the recruiter, the hiring manager and a variety of other people. What we have when a job ad is completed is 5 printed pages that leave nothing to the imagination.
- Your expectation is unrealistic, aka these people don’t exist. Your job description has morphed into a ‘person wish list’ and this overqualified person isn’t real. You may even be scaring off those candidates that are close to the requirements, because they MUST have 15 years experience doing X, Y and Z.
- Your culture is unclear to the candidate. What is it really like to work at your company? What does each day bring and why is your company better than other places? Do you build great leaders and highly successful business people who go on to do great things?
- Your apply process is arduous. How long does it take to get through your apply process? Is it reasonable given that you are competing for talent? Should there be/could there be a simpler way? Applications under 5 minutes convert the most candidates.
- Your reviews on Glassdoor or Indeed are not good. If you don’t have a free employer account on Glassdoor, I’d advise getting one. Respond to negative reviews by giving them careful consideration and thought. Help control the messages in the market about your company and make sure they are honest and accurate without engaging in a battle with your former or current employees.
Never fear – there are ways to eliminate these roadblocks and attract the best candidates to your jobs!
A job advertisement is a recruiter’s sales funnel and good decisions along the pipeline can positively influence candidate behavior and boost conversions. To learn the latest tricks on eliminating these roadblocks, download our sourcing whitepaper below:
