A better job search
Recruitment reflected, pt 1
I often talk about how supporting job seekers has made me a better recruiter.
Part of this is around empathy and understanding the trials and tribulations people experience in a difficult job search.
Experiences I can share with others to point them in a better direction, or at least take a little burden off their shoulders.
While understanding how our actions as recruiters are experienced and perceived by others.
However the more insightful lesson for me has been to explore at scale the hidden candidate journey, and how their experiences can be improved, in a way that attracts the best-suited candidates.
What’s clear is that there’s a huge disconnect.
On the one hand, the vast majority of employers I talk to think they give an above-average candidate experience, which appears to be proven by the metrics they monitor from candidates in- or post-process. Would your new employee really say it wasn’t perfect?
So they can be surprised when some vacancies prove more difficult than others, yet don’t consider how their process may hold them back.
You can also see this in agency marketing, where they ‘disrupt the market with better candidate experience’, yet write messages that work against candidates.
“If you don’t hear from us in one week, please assume you have been unsuccessful”
Or
“To apply, send us an up-to-date CV and cover letter”
Or how about an ATS that proclaims its ability to brand employers, and focus on the candidate experience, yet lock everything behind a tortuous set of forms?
On the other hand the vast majority of job seekers I talk to state that most employers they engage with provide a poor candidate experience, and there is no forum for them to feed this back to those same employers/agencies that think they are getting this right.
Make no mistake, these aren’t people that are out of work because they aren’t capable – they were only out of work because the market worked against them and, when the market has supported it, have secured great new roles.
Tellingly many of these are Talent Acquisition folk, who openly state they hadn’t realised how bad the recruitment system is for candidates.
How can they improve matters, when back in work?
Tailoring CVs to hundreds of applications for badverts.
Writing personalised cover letters that showcase their candidacy.
Doing both through ChatGPT for ChatGPT written job adverts.
Following contradictory and crap job seeker advice.
It’s a quagmire.
These are lessons I’ve taken the most from – I’ve described this as the Gemba previously, but where these are most helpful is that they are the unknown unknowns.
You can only find these in your blind spots.
How valuable is it to hear about the experiences of people who:
Don’t apply to vacancies and why
Withdraw from applications because of arrogant processes
Witness what they see as hypocrisy from hiring processes that complain about both a lack of candidates and their behaviour
See a lack of salary declaration as a sign of an unfair employer
With a key message that, particularly for long-term job seekers, anxiety is a permanent state, riddled with bad experiences that they might assume you are guilty of too, unfair or not.
Were recruiters to look at the root cause of hidden behaviours, through supporting job seekers, we’d find many opportunities for improvement throughout our processes.
Improvements that serve to ease the burden from job seekers, but also the experiences of the people every process should appeal to:
A ‘perfect’ candidate that is gainfully employed, is time and attention selfish, and will only be open to a conversation if it’s clear exactly what’s in it for them.
Here are two initial lessons I’ve taken from these calls.
1/ While most companies consider that the 1st stage of their recruitment process is an application, this is definitely not the case for potential candidates. Their steps are:
Position. Are they actively looking at adverts? Hiding under a stone, only available to the most careful seeker? Will they be open to an email from a recruiter, or accept a 40-second phone call?
Awareness. This might be from following your company, reading a post in their feed or proactively searching for a vacancy through an agency or job board.
Consideration. If a sceptical reader isn’t convinced by a generic message, there’s little reason for them to investigate further. Unless they are in an urgent situation, they are then likely to read more on an employer, before considering taking action.
Action. This might not be applying. It might be updating their CV, or having questions that are holding them back from applying. What if they are borderline – what might hold them back from applying?
At which point they might apply – the first stage of your process.
Have you considered what happens before your Step 1, and how this might hold you back?
Of course, if they are out of work and desperate to get any pay in, they may just click EasyApply or put up with filling in an ATS application.
My advice to job seekers here is typically not to assume a poor advert or application process is representative of poor employment. Most employers aren’t experts in recruitment and have their own jobs to do.
My advice to employers is not to assume your adverts and application processes are good enough. Look at them critically through the eyes of your ideal candidates, and if you can’t do that seek advice.
Consider that this might be your only vacancy, but it likely isn’t the only vacancy your candidates are considering. How does your stand out in a sea of genericisms?
You may fill your job anyway, despite a suboptimal process.
Especially if you are recognised as a brand and employer of choice. Is that so?
Yet, you’ll be hiring the best available to your process, not necessarily the right person for your needs.
This leads to
2/ The requirement of a reader for your application process depends on their position and awareness.
You should assume that a reader will only be aware of your opportunity because of the message they interact with – whether an advert, DM or call. That they have no awareness of you outside of this small sphere.
So if you have won an award for tech innovation, have a significant positive step change in your business, are an absolutely brilliant employer, or anything else that gives good reason to think about working for you – show this at the earliest opportunity, with evidence in your words.
And if this benefits your most sceptical prospect, it benefits active job seekers too.
A couple of weeks back I met with a great TA Manager, and he mentioned a company he’d looked at. Couldn’t tell what they did. Vacancies were murkily described. Logo was a bunch of blocks. Arrogant corporate monologues.
Yet I know them to be a world-class technology consultancy.
How would he know, if reliant on their descriptions?
In the same way, I tell job seekers to help employers make the right decision by giving suitable context in their messaging, whether a CV, cover letter or networking message…
I also say to employers to help your ideal candidates make the right decision by giving suitable context in your messaging, whether advert, careers page or DM.
Recruitment reflects throughout.
I’ll reflect some more later in the week.
Regards,
Greg
P.s While you are here, if you like the idea of improving how you recruit, lack capacity or need better candidates, and are curious how I can help, these are my services:
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