I'm losing applicants for my jobs... What should I do?

There are a few reasons as to why this could be the case...

Interview Process

• Have you structured your interview process? It’s vital to let applicants know how the recruitment process looks.

• Are you leaving long gaps between 1st and 2nd interviews? If so, this increases the likelihood of applicants accepting other positions with other businesses they interview with. We need to remember that these applicants are proactively searching for a new role and having a prolonged interview process could suggest that your time is limited, and it will remain this way if they were to accept a role within your organisation.

• Are you expecting the candidate to travel long distances for each part of the interview? More than once is too much. Living in a digital age means we can host telephone/ video interviews with final interviews being the perfect opportunity for asking candidates to travel.

The Job Role

• Are you expecting too much? Are you underpaying? What are your competitors offering? All important factors to consider when writing job descriptions.

• Including accurate job descriptions, titles, salary information and benefits from the beginning is key. If you don’t know exactly what you’re asking your new staff members to do, how are they meant to know? Giving all the information to candidates during the interview process will keep them engaged, committed and enthusiastic.

• Is the role flexible? Does the candidate need to be in the office 5 days a week or is this just an exercise for you to manage? People want flexibility and the opportunity to work from home if necessary, or at least the option to.

Culture

• Culture is everything and this shines through from interview. Being kind, welcoming, informative, approachable, and open goes a long way for your applicants. As much as salary and flexibility is important, working for somebody who respects you and treats you kindly will influence people’s opinions on your job role to huge effect.

• What do your current employee’s think of your organisation? Send out an anonymous survey to get an understanding and share results with applicants.

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