Ever wondered why you are not getting enough job applicants. Why candidates are not applying for the job online? You might have ticked off all the boxes but still not receiving enough number of candidate applicants. And we are not even discussing here getting relevant job applicants but we are discussing not being able to attract candidates to apply for the job that your company has recently posted.
Able to receive resumes online means you are saving cost and time for your organization. But what if you are not receiving enough job applications online and you have to depend on online job boards and paid recruitment channels for finding candidates? How do you handle this situation? How do you get more candidates to apply for jobs?
Here are some potential reasons you are not receiving enough candidate applications.
1. Candidate Application Form Reason For Bad Candidate Experience
While working with one of the clients, we reviewed their hiring process. This company had hosted a candidate application form on their career page. However, the job application process was lengthy, redundant and exhaustive. The candidate application form would make candidates fill in all personal details, previous job details, education details and then also make them upload their resumes. Apart from this, there were multiple pre-screening questions that candidates had to answer. We are living in a drag and drop world of the internet where a candidate would expect the job application to finish in a matter of few clicks. Bad candidate experience draws potential candidates away from applying for the job.
According to a study by CareerBuilder, 60% of candidates never complete the candidate application form because of its complexity or length or redundancy.
When you host a job application form online it should be quick and simple. When a candidate uploads a resume, your candidate application process should be able to grab important information automatically so that it removes redundancy. Using online recruitment software can solve this problem to a large extent. Resume parsing can automatically pick important information from the resume, keeping the candidate application process short and quick.
Using AI for resume screening you can find which are the best-matched job applicants. Similarly, using AI, you can suggest the most relevant jobs to job applicants. This improves the candidate experience significantly. With better candidate experience you would find more and more candidates applying for the jobs online. Bad candidate experience is probably the most important reason why candidates shy away from applying for the job.
2. Google For Jobs Search: Your Job Is Not Searchable
If you are expecting candidates to apply to the jobs of your company then it is needless to say that the job should be searchable. Jobs that you post on the career page of your company should automatically be searchable. In other words, when candidates are searching for jobs online, jobs from your company should feature in the search results.
With Google’s new Google for Job Search Engine, it is possible that jobs from your company can be part of Google search results. You can learn more about how to post jobs for google for job search engine here.
Once you optimize your career page for Google for Job Search, you should be able to analyze numbers like how many candidates visited your job page and how many actually applied for the job.
3. Career Page Not Optimized For Smartphones
As per Kelton global study, 70% of candidates willing to apply for jobs using a smartphone but for most companies hiring process is not mobile optimized. This is a big turn off for candidates. Often, companies focus only on the desktop-based job application process. Either companies assume the same online hiring process would work on smartphones or they ignore to optimize it for smartphones.
Candidates use smartphones heavily for job searches. If the career page of your company is not compatible or optimized for mobile use then you would definitely lose significant job applicants traffic coming your way.
4. Not Using Social Media Effectively For Hiring
One of the secrets to do better on digital platforms is to distribute data as much as you can. Often, recruiters would post a job opening on platforms like LinkedIn or Facebook and would expect resumes to flow in. Unfortunately, it is not that simple. Social media platforms keep changing the way their data is presented to its users. For example, Facebook used to show data to its users based on LIFO fashion. Meaning, the latest event would come on top; always. Whereas LinkedIn wouldn’t do that necessarily.
You should post a job on different platforms regularly and also get your employees to do the same. Sharing or re-posting of jobs would improve the visibility of job openings at your company.
5. Job Description Doesn’t Give Enough Information
A job description is your sales pitch. You should be able to sell a job opportunity using a job description. When a potential candidate reads a job description, it should reveal all important things without overdoing it. Your job description must clearly explain the duties, roles, and responsibilities to the candidates. It should give a candidate a pick into his or her future career growth. Write a good job description that would make candidates consider the job opening seriously.
Sometimes, the language used in job descriptions is biased. For example, using words like “looking for sales rockstar” would push away female candidates.
Many hiring managers don’t invest in writing a good job description. They either write a one-liner job description or copy it from their archives. If you are not either Google or Apple, then do not expect candidates to dig in into job openings at your organization. Take efforts in writing killer job descriptions.
6. Unrealistic Expectations
Are you asking for too much? Have you combined two different job profiles into one? Some companies do that mistake. For example, startups often write job descriptions that are combinations of multiple job functions.
Also, when companies combine multiple job functions into one, salaries they may offer still not be great. This is one of the important reasons why job applicants may not apply for the job. Today, candidates do all kinds of research about your firm, especially when it comes to salaries.
Evaluate your requirements properly. Find out what are the most important skills that you are looking for. Define job functions clearly.
7. Employer Branding Not Used With Career Page
Share stories about your organization with your future hire. Show them the glimpses of your company’s culture. Use photos, videos, employees testimonials to share stories about your company. Highlight the recent achievements of your company. Job applicants want to know as much about their new company.
Most companies miss out on such branding opportunities. Companies just put current job openings on the career page and expect candidates to apply for the job. Remember it’s the candidate driven market and every company will have to work hard to attract the best talent.
Attracting job applicants online should be the highest priority. Because of the simple reason, that most candidates are looking for jobs online. Also, when candidates apply for the job online, it’s like a qualified lead. Meaning, a candidate is interested in the job. You just need to screen a resume to see if it’s the right match.
Gone are the days when listing job openings was a mere formality. Today, it is one of the most important and effective recruiting tools for your company.
