When I learned from Adriana DiNenno that the average job seeker hears 199 no’s in order to receive one yes, I was surprised because this meant I was not alone. Some of my job searches – stealth and covert – have floated around this number. I have had one that far exceeded it and one a fraction of it.
As much as job seekers prepare and we curse at algorithms, recruitment can be a numbers game. Add in the “who knows who” factor and the risk of bias, and we have a challenging predicament. This led me to write a few pieces for job seekers.
When I shared the above statistic with someone as I was job searching, she said, “Anne Marie, you work in HR. You should get a job and go fix that!” Novel idea!
While talent acquisition is not my passion nor career focus, I have found myself working closely with recruiters in various industries over the years. They are great people with a heart for what they do and the desire to improve their field. As job seekers speak with recruiter after recruiter, villainizing them can be only too tempting. Thankfully, my exposure to them as colleagues has shown me how complex and challenging their work is and how passionately they do it. Still, talent acquisition is in need of repair. When urged to “go fix that,” all I could say was, “I’ll try. I’ll do what I can.”
As a first step in that, below are a few reflections and earnest calls for improvement that don’t fall into the category of “beating the dead horse.” (Unicorns, be assured, you are safe.)
Hiring managers, recruiters, HR technologists, employer branding leads, employees approached for referrals….this is for you! Small actions can make a big difference. Awareness and appreciation for the other are the first steps. The second is making tactical, practical changes.
Job Postings
Know your target demographic and the climate of the market; adjust your job ads accordingly. Job descriptions and ads should not necessarily be synonymous. If your job description and related legal disclosures total eight pages, structure the ad to be more succinct. A well written ad can help applicants see themselves working with you. They can lift applicants up when they are feeling vulnerable in the job market by boosting their confidence and speaking to them like a human being.
Many organizations are including salary ranges. Candidates can tell if this data is simply to comply with laws or if it is in a spirit of transparency at an organization with well-designed job architectures and competitive total rewards strategies. Posting a job with a pay range of $50,000-150,000 tells us nothing about the job but much about the firm. Also, be self-aware if you are seeking champagne talent on a beer budget. I had to laugh when I read, “Seeking ‘God’ Level Talent” with a salary of $80,000 and an internship that paid the same rate.
For remote positions, proactively and prominently advertise which US states this includes. Candidates wish but certainly understand that not all companies have a legal presence in all states. If we are not willing to relocate and know you cannot hire us, then we can save you an application if you clearly advertise from which states you hire.
The “hybrid” term has become overly vague. It can mean travel once/quarter or three days/week. A candidate may be willing to make a two-hour commute once/month but not once/week. If we can opt out and focus our attention on roles that meet our needs, you, too, can focus on candidates who meet your needs. If your office is commutable from neighboring states, seriously consider establishing a legal presence in these states; otherwise, you may lose talent to local competitors who have a presence or create inequity among employees, some of whom have a short commute and can work remotely and others who have a longer drive that they must make five-days/week.
Following COVID, candidates are surprised to see travel requirements from 40-50%. We know these jobs took place primarily remote during COVID. Why are they back to in-person? Barring special circumstances, candidates read this as the organization not appreciating work-life balance or the organization not heeding the innovative and operating cost-reduction lessons of COVID.
Be mindful of how long job posts are open. If the role is cancelled or closed, remove the post. If the role is not scheduled to start for 120+ days, posting too early can make candidates feel that the organization is not serious about filling the role. Find alternate ways to passively source a talent pipeline.
Referrals
If someone in your network or a second-degree connection reaches out saying, “I saw XYZ role at your company. What is your favorite thing about working there?”, take the hint. They are trying to softball a referral, which could place money in your pocket, while also seeking an insider’s perspective on the organization. You may or may not feel comfortable making the referral for the person; however, at minimum, you can wish the person well or even better, briefly answer their question about why you like working there.
Others take this goodwill a step further and agree to schedule a networking call. If you make this offer, follow through. Such calls mean the world to job seekers. If they get their hopes up and you, despite good intentions, flake out, it hurts.
Referrals used to mean every candidate received a phone screen. This rule of thumb is no longer fool proof. Be sure to make qualified referrals and advocate on their behalf.
Intake Meetings & Phone Screens
Candidates interview the interviewer, and we can tell how well prepared you are. For phone screens to be successful and impressive to candidates, invest time into requisition intake calls with the hiring manager. Understand the job, why it is open and the top skills/experiences needed. Too many “I don’t know’s” or “that would be great to ask the hiring manager” responses reveal a lack of strategy and skill. It does not make us feel valued or welcome.
Please, please do not read verbatim from the job description when describing the opportunity. Our job is to know what’s in the description; your job is to expand on it.
If the entire phone screen is duplicative of the application’s questions, save us both some time. While it is okay to ask “housekeeping questions,” structure other questions to ensure the conversation adds value.
Interviews
Interviewing can be awkward. Find ways to put candidates at ease. By alleviating the awkward and turning an intense game of 20 questions into a two-way conversation, you learn more about our skills because we are at ease and operating with a growth mindset. Awkwardness often stems from mismatched timing, different levels of enthusiasm or implied superiority. Consider using DISC to mirror the behaviors you see. Remember, we are interviewing each other in each encounter.
One of the most valuable lessons I learned during my time as an industrial staffing recruiter was the importance of making candidates feel like a million bucks. When candidates feel valued and built up, we are more likely to showcase our best experience and skills. When we are treated as weak, inadequate or a bore, our value will be harder to see.
If you are considering internal candidates, do not advance external candidates beyond the first hiring manager interview before making a final decision about the internal candidates. Organizations know the internal candidates’ cultural fit, experience and behavioral track record, which is often the purpose of subsequent interviews. Wasting external candidates and your hiring team’s time is not fruitful for anyone.
Allocate adequate time for the candidate to ask questions. Much can be discerned about the candidate by what they ask. Candidates find the chance to ask questions before the “traditional interview” begins refreshing. Leaving the final third of the interview for questions is often the right balance.
Timing
The promise of 24-hour turnarounds has become more common; however, the follow through is lack luster. Instead, commit to a realistic turnaround time. Provide candidates a window or range. Even better, pad the window a little (48 hours) so that when you reply early, we are impressed.
If a key member of the hiring team is out on vacation, tell us. Unexplained delays worry us. Telling us demonstrates that employees are actually able to take time off. If the hiring manager is scheduled to go on vacation the week after the phone screens, consider pushing phone screens out by a week. Early delays can lessen candidates’ enthusiasm.
Candidates have seen an uptick of job postings that are live for less than 24-hours. While sifting through hundreds of applications cannot be easy, such short windows do more than reduce your workload. They prevent strong candidates from applying. We may be working a 9-5 job or have family commitments that enable us to apply a few nights a week or primarily on weekends. You are reducing the diversity of your candidate pool. Aim for 5-7 days minimum.
Schedule one interview at a time. Scheduling third interviews before the second is complete may make candidates feel excited, but in reality, in the end it often shows us that your recruiting funnel is broken and our time was possibly wasted.
Sending Decline Messages
Be mindful of when you send out decline messages. Sending them at 3am so that rejection is the first message job seekers read when they wake up is a lousy way to start the day. If your Applicant Tracking System’s (ATS) notification widget is set on a delay or sends messages during slow times on the server, consider changing this. A recruiter in your own region should be the one reviewing your application and if appropriate, declining you during business hours.
A candidate who was not phone screened should receive a different rejection message than one who made it to the final round. ATS have the ability to store multiple email templates to match your recruiting funnel - use them!
Consider why you are posting jobs or sending decline messages on weekends. If job seekers see you working odd hours, we may choose not to apply because this signals to us that the organization does not respect its employees’ time off.
Similarly, don’t decline our applications on major holidays. This is just sad! Even if your recruiters sit in another country, have awareness to major holidays. Santa doesn’t put declined applications in your stocking. Coal beats a decline message.
ATS Features & Technology
Not all ATS are created equal. Like anything else, large expenditures do not guarantee quality. In particular, the quality of resume parsing technology varies widely.
Your competitors have discovered how to recruit without forcing applicants to retype each job’s summary into your application in addition to uploading their resume. Follow their lead. The shorter the application, the higher the completion rate.
New technology is streamlining the interview process. Scheduling tools like Calendly and Paradox allow greater candidate and recruiter flexibility! Conversely, audio and video recorded interviews provide benefits to hiring managers by allowing them to review responses at their convenience. Such interviews can be seen as higher stress than a live interview. They also prevent a two-way dialogue, which strips interviews of their mutually discerning and conversational natures. It makes them cold and impersonal, turning candidates into commodities to select off a shelf. Using this technology also signals to candidates that the Talent Acquisition team is focused on volume and operates more administratively. Candidates prefer to build relationships and know that they are interacting with a professional with a specialized and strategic skill set. Technology should not replace human interaction. If your recruiters have been replaced by technology, the candidate may be concerned their prospective job will be next.
Certain applications ask about applicants’ sexual orientation. Why does any employer need to know who you are attracted to? You are applying for a job, not an online dating service. If your DEI data tracking initiatives seek this information, ask current employees on a voluntary basis. Asking all applicants feels invasive.
More and more applications have questions related to preferred pronouns (sometimes twice in one application). Having this as an optional question welcomes what many consider a positive diversity measure. Candidates can be addressed as they wish during interviews. To some Talent Acquisition professionals’ surprise, however, requiring this question is not inclusive as it excludes those whose diversity of thought and creed do not align with personal pronouns usage. If you truly advocate diversity, consider adverse impacts to all parties. This is a two-edged sword that can be mitigated by making this application question optional.
Kudos
Following these cautionary tales, nudges for improvement and candor of perception, below are a few highlights and kudos:
Kudos to the hiring managers who skip phone screens by structuring applications and taking a close look at resumes. By skipping a call, the process advances faster for both parties. It also shows candidates how involved and passionate managers are about the process and the job. More organizations could do this by upskilling hiring managers and refining their application process.
Kudos to the recruiters who approach resume gaps with curiosity rather than skepticism. Kudos, too, for proactively communicating the steps of the process during the first call. Sharing that the process will involve three interviews over the course of four weeks tells candidates that you are organized and serious.
Kudos to the colleagues who see a job at their organization, think of who they know and proactively draw great talent to the company. Referrals can and should be “pull” rather than “push”-driven.
Kudos to interviewers who remember what it is like to be a candidate and acknowledge that out of all of the organizations that are hiring, candidates are interested in you. Not only does an applicant have to like your company brand, they have to be attracted to your employer brand as published on your website, in the job ad and on review sites. Once these hurdles are cleared, they look to you as a living testament and look for congruence. You have a lot to live up to and this responsibility should not be taken lightly. Thank you for coming prepared, making us feel welcome and demonstrating your passion for your work and team.
To the Point
Together, we can improve the talent acquisition process. All it takes is a little creativity, understanding and humanity.
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