Making it easy to apply!!
Over the last few weeks, I have gone out to many company sites and check out the style, process, and length of time to apply to an open position. I was amazed at some of the things I saw. About 50% of the companies had easy, quick ways to apply, took less than 5 minutes. Another 20-30% took 10 minutes or less. However up to 30 % took over 10 minutes with some as much as 25 minutes. What started me down this was when a recruiter friend of mine had told me how he does not get many applies when he posts his positions on the company site. I knew from experience he wrote great job descriptions so I knew it was not that. So the question was what was it. So I went on the site and started the applies process, 20 minutes later I was done and for me it became obvious. I then decided to do a little survey, I spoke to about 40 people who were currently looking for work. I asked if they would take the time to apply to a job if it took 15+ minutes. 98% said no. that was huge. I asked why and it was obvious, it took too long, made them wonder if it took this long to simply apply, how long would it take to hear anything if at all, how long would the process be, and if to apply was so long, so cumbersome, what was it like to work there, how serious about finding people are they. Well there you have it, for those companies who have never bothered to check how long the apply process is, you may be losing some great candidates and not even know it. You may be getting a bad rap, all because you applies process is way too long, As I have said many times, simple is best. Make it simple, allow them to upload a resume, and have the system take the info from the resume, and fill out any forms needed. Then all the candidate needs to do is verify the info, and apply. Simple, quick, and it works.
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Staffing or specifically sourcing is like hitting in baseball. To quote the character ‘Jack Elliot” from the movie “Mr. Baseball”, “Hitting is like the tide, there is high tide and there is low tide and then there is high tide again”. This analogy works well for staffing. Think about it. One minute you are finding anything and everyone you want, next you are struggling, then eventually you are back to finding anyone.
This high tide/low tide phenomenon has more to deal with our own brains then an actual event. Basically after a while of looking for the same thing our brains kind of run out, or have a low tide, of ideas of different places and ways to find what we are looking for. Like with a hitter who is struggling sometimes we need a break, a change of pace, a day off, a soft reboot, and all of a sudden we are brimming with ideas and its high tide again. The idea here being when you run out of ideas, when it is low tide, just take some time, take a break, do something else for a little while, reboot your brain and high tide will be back again. I know Hiring Managers (HM) have certain predisposition about certain type of candidates, In this case I am talking about people who worked at the company before and their performance was not great. As a result, if they are being looked at back at their old company, they are immediately turned down, no questions asked. The problem is there should be questions asked. Questions like: how long ago was it, what exactly was the reason for their performance, where have they been since, and more. An example if you are looking at the resume of a former employee who worked at your company say 3+ years ago and let’s say their last review was not great. Does this mean they should not be looked at to come back? The answer is no, you find out what was behind the review. You look at other reviews. If for example the candidate had several great reviews prior to that last one that was not so good, there could be reasons that have understandable, like a job mismatch, constantly changing managers, etc. What if you look into it and it was determined they just did not have a strong enough skill set. Well okay, but that was 3+ years ago, maybe now they do. The point is do not assume anything, do not dismiss someone without finding out the who, what, when, how and why of the bad review, or no hire or anything. Things are very rarely black and white, and as the market gets tighter for great people we cannot afford to simply over look people for reasons that are 3+ years old. I know them, well do you really??
One of the things I see, and hear about all the time is how someone knows someone, who knows someone and how it either helps them get a job or stops them from getting a job. The interesting part is when the people who know people, knew them 1+ years ago, and yet still feel that what they know actually is still correct. According to a study by Dr. Phillippa Lally of the University College of London, people have changes to the way the think, act, react, and process things at least every 4-6 months. That means if you knew someone say 1.5 years ago and back then they did not listen well, it is likely they listen very well now. Or If you knew someone 3+ years ago and back then they were a little hard to work with, it is very possible that they are now easy to work with. In other words even though you may have worked with someone, or worked around someone, or even socialized with someone, if it has been more than 4-6 months you really cannot say you know them at all. The same would hold true if you are asking a third person about someone. If that person has not been around the person you are questioning about in the last 4-6 months they really cannot say they know. In fact if the person you are asking is someone you have not been around in the last 4-6 months you cannot say you know them well enough to have complete 100% trust in what they say. In this age of social media were you can always find someone you can contact to ask about a perspective candidate, the reality is those opinions you get if are based on information 4-6 months or older are not 100% reliable, and in fact could be totally unreliable, and yet candidates are hired or not hire based on them. Now I am not saying totally ignore them, what I am saying is use them like a piece to a puzzle, but talk to the candidate and address those issues and see if they are real, and are current. This way you are not giving up on what could be a great hire because of information that could be wrong. |
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