The Importance of an Efficient Application Process

Planning in advance with a well written job description will save a lot of time, money and resources trying to engage and attract candidates. Recruiting the wrong person, will halt and waste time for all parties and only create an unstable workplace. Don’t leave too long between closing date & interviews. When a candidate is actively looking at the market and applying, they are applying for other jobs – not just yours. A slow response rate has its repercussions i.e. candidate feeling undervalued and finding a job with competitor.

Going to market with an open position is important to your brand. Your internal and external brand messages should all be aligned to show the culture of your workplace. You can use many different mediums to advertise your job: social media, video, job boards. Take time and get it right first time, re-advertising a job creates an impression there is an issue with the workplace. Potential candidates are monitoring the market and see when a job comes onto the marketplace. Manage this effectively, a recurring job is not a job a candidate is going to take a risk for. (Use the information you gathered from your exit interviews to avoid this).

Recruitment Human costs, job posting etc all have an impact on the hiring process. Research and look at cost effective methods that will bring returns. Many are quick to go to a job board, without doing any research on its delivery or market position. Different levels of roles, belong on different sites. There is no one fit for all. Spend your money wisely!

Make the experience easy to apply. Submitting application forms are off-putting in the current market. Candidates want an easy submit button for their updated CV.

Keep candidates interested, ensure you have communication points planned out. Having a strategic process in place enables you to keep track of the process and communicate with candidates. Keeping them updated throughout the process to keep the lines of communication open. Communication internally is equally as important to co-ordinate dates etc. Speak in the language of candidates you want to engage and attract.

Interviews in our industry are moving more towards informal settings. Employers are establishing better rapport and gaining more effective insights to candidates by conducting interviews in this setting. A stuffy formal setting is off putting, and you may not always capture the skillset you need/want to see for the position you are hiring for. How many times have you heard ‘I froze?’. Ensuring the setting is comfortable and relaxed is an important aspect of the process for the candidate to let their personality shine. You will get more from a candidate this way.

Ensure you have questions and score sheets prepared in advance. This is crucial to ensure equality for all candidates which is paramount to ensure all applications are asked the same questions and marked fairly.

Always respect the candidates’ confidentially, and how you manage their data. Don’t breach the candidates confidentially calling an employer with previous or current on the application, not only are you are at risk of breaching legislation you are breaching trust. The candidate has applied to you in trust, trust is a two-way street. Only approach references with the approval of the candidate, you jeopardise your companies employer brand reputation by not belong compliant.

Never offer a candidate the lower figure if you have stated a salary range. This will result in the candidate feeling undervalued and immediately create a bad impression to the candidate of the business could result in decline to offer. In todays market, you will rarely get to make a second offer as you will have lost the interest of the candidate. Take careful consideration on your offer before making it, you don’t want to lose a good candidate at this stage of the process.

Ensure from the moment the candidate walks through the door on their first that all you promised and sold at the interview is what the candidate experiences. Otherwise: all off the above effort, time and resources have been wasted!