We all know how difficult it is to attract great candidates these days. Given that, how bad would you feel if you found out your organization was sabotaging its own recruiting efforts?
It happens every day, and it’s often the result of a poor candidate experience – essentially, the series of interactions that job-seekers have with a company. If they are less than ideal, a candidate that knows he or she has lots of choices in the current job market will move on, and quickly.
Your online portal is your front door to candidates
If you haven’t checked in on your candidate experience recently, a great place to start is by reviewing your online application and portal. If they’re difficult to navigate, you may be losing candidates before they even get started.
How? Let’s say you’ve posted a job, a potential candidate is interested, and clicks “Apply Now.” They follow the prompts, and at the end, are told they’ve applied. However, soon after they receive a follow-up email directing them to another website – and once there, they need to fill out another application. Worse yet, they can’t even upload a resume! Frustration mounts, and your once-interested-now-disillusioned candidate leaves to seek greener pastures elsewhere.
And that’s just one scenario. Perhaps your online application is too long or complicated; perhaps it’s difficult to log in, or your portal freezes up or times out. And if the system is not mobile-friendly, that’s a killer.
Making your online portal work for candidates
The good news is there’s a straightforward way to determine whether your online portal is working: become a candidate yourself. Connect online just as a job seeker would and follow all the associated steps – click on prompts, complete the online application, upload documents, and so on. You’ll learn firsthand how easy, or difficult, it is to apply. And then, armed with that information, you can update and improve the system to ensure more candidates follow through with applications.
Remember, it’s already a challenge to fill open positions. The competition against other organizations is fierce enough; the last thing you want to be doing is undermining your own recruiting process.
There are many ways to enhance and enrich the candidate experience, and the experts at Alaant Workforce Solutions are well-versed in making it happen. Interested in learning more? Contact us today and let’s get the conversation started!
