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Recruitment: Candidate Care


Numbers of applicants is one of the hazards of any online recruitment activity. It is too easy for someone to apply for a job even if they are not a particularly good fit, and too easy for them to apply by submitting a standard CV thus leaving it to the recruiter to identify their suitability and fit.

This is clearly a challenge - and recruiter comments in forums demonstrate that this features high on the recruiters list of issues: "how can we contact everyone when we get thousands of applications for every job'. In reality it is the candidates that suffer in this market - good candidates get lost by the sheer numbers, others get dispirited by the lack of personal care and attention from the recruiter, and so forth.

I think the solution is always only going to be partial and is multifaceted. Lots of little things combining to have the desired effect.

As with a lot of things in the employment area the 'contracting' is a critical, and somewhat overlooked stage. Recruiters need to be quite explicit about what they are looking for, what they can expect, and what they in turn will do.

In terms of the 'what you are looking for' this is just the normal stuff - the vaguer the advert, the more the candidates. Thus the filter can be turned up or down depending on the assessment of likely numbers of applicants.

It, is however, still too easy to submit one's CV electronically which does tend to result in less candidates screening themselves out. It is possible to set up higher hurdles but care needs to be taken that this does not screen out the suitable candidates rather than the speculative ones. Hurdles can include, requiring a covering letter confirming suitability, asking for specific examples of prior experience or achievements to support the application, requiring applicants to fill in an on line application form, etc.

Looking at the candidate care side there are some obvious things to do and avoid:
  • make sure that you acknowledge all applications. Clearly this is a form letter but do your best to make it as friendly as possible. Either customise it with some information specific to the position they applied for, or explain the process and likely timescales and what will happen next
  • if you are still collecting applications and have not completed your shortlist or someone is in on the hold list send out a holding message after 2 weeks (2 weeks is no time at all for you but a long time for someone waiting to hear the outcome of an application. Also adopting this approach does mean that you can say to people - you will receive an update in two weeks which can cut down on the number of phone calls you get. Once again this can and should be automated
  • once you have turned someone down make sure you send them a message to tell them that they have been unsuccessful. Do not fall into the trap of adding a line to the acknowledgement message which says, "if you have not heard in two weeks, you have been unsuccessful on this occasion." Given the ease of automated electronic communication there is no real excuse for this sort of message
  • try to make yourself look human. "We get on average over 500 applications for every job we post. Whilst we ensure that every application is reviewed in order to identify the most suitable candidates, we cannot give personal feedback to every candidate. We are, however, committed to letting you know by email when you application has been reviewed whether or not you have been shortlisted"

I think there is also scope to do some additional contracting, such as: We are committed to easing the path for all our candidates and helping you find the right job. In turn, you can help us, and ultimately help yourself by both reading the advertisement carefully and not applying unless you think that you are a strong fit for the particular job; as well as clearly stating in a covering letter or at the top of your CV how you consider yourself to be suitable.



Published by: Lisette on 16/05/2009 - Add a comment

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