Is Your Company’s Job Application Process Scaring Candidates?

We are in a time where it is all about the impressions that one can make on others. Whether it is a potential employer or a potential employee, displaying yourself outside in a good way, matters a lot in terms of creating lasting impressions on other people.

Employees make use of letters of interest and résumes to form such impressions on their employers. But employer impressions on the employees’ minds are rarely spoken of.

A lot of times, the companies that are in their formative years make use of creative advertisements to attract talented employees. Established companies have their employees and the perks that they enjoy speak for them.

It can truly be a privilege to be part of companies working towards their goals and working on larger-than-life projects. But in the process to make the companies seem grandiose, there is a possibility that the employees might be intimidated because of the over-the-top job description put out by companies. The job application process that is created to select the best talent might work in counterproductive ways and can scare the people away.

To make sure that only competent people are employed in the company, the job selection process is made rigorous. It usually involves a lot of stages and at each stage, people are filtered out retaining only the best ones.

The job selection process is created including challenging steps that are meant to focus on the aptitude of the candidates and their soft skills. But this process might intimidate and scare away eligible candidates who would be the best match for your company.

Let us learn about the practices that scare potential employees.

1. Providing incomplete information about the job application process

When a company is posting a requirement, it has to express the job description, the job location, detailed responsibilities expected from a candidate, educational qualification required for the role, prior experiences, the application process and any fees for that, etc. All of this information should be expressed in the requirement of the job. This information provides some clarity to the applicants which are necessary for them to make a decision. It also gives them an idea about preparing themselves for further opportunities.

2. Describing the job poorly and in an unappealing manner

Believe it or not, people judge other people based on their presentation skills. History of marketing has taught us that no matter what the content is, one can always put their point across well through a skilled presentation. But if the content is not user friendly and is not visually appealing, it is not going to attract people to read more and apply. It does not have to be extremely decorative stuff but it has to look neat and professional enough for people to pay attention to it. Simple things like colour schemes and fonts can take care of it.

3. Expressing only expectations from the employee with no mention of the perks

Ours is a “give and take” world. When employers expect something from their employees, they also have to give something productive back to them. Several private jobs are offering competitive salaries to candidates for the same job profile. So when employees are expressing their expectations, employers also have to mention the purpose and advantages that they will have in working with the employer.

Before, it was only employees who had to prove their calibre to companies to be able to work with them. Today, the world of work has become a two-way street now and employers also have to prove that working in their company would be a commendable decision for the candidate.

4. Stating incomplete requirements or false requirements

There are specific job profiles and they have different job descriptions. People who have acquired the same training would later go on to specialise their expertise by gaining experience in one of the subfields of their initial education. So when employers are expressing their requirements, they also have to mention what exactly they are looking for in terms of educational qualifications and experience requirements. It is common to mention the experience of the number of years employees want. This helps in attracting the right kind of candidates and avoids overload of applications that are not useful for employers.

5. Offering less flexibility and more stringency

Along with being very specific about what a company wants, it is also essential to be flexible in certain boundaries for the company. The contemporary world of work has taught us the importance of being flexible. Change is one of the primary factors in the world, keeps shaking the system the companies keep making. The ones who survive are the flexible ones. Having said that, it is completely understood that certain tasks have to be performed by people trained for it and that is the way. But providing them opportunities for growth and flexibility in approach makes a company much more employee-friendly to work in.

6. Having long application forms

Some companies ask people to straightaway mail their résumes to them while some others have their application forms that people have to fill up. Big companies with dedicated HR departments that look at talent acquisition and recruitment, store data from various candidates to be able to use it for further requirements. Although this idea becomes easy for the HR, the forms are too long and it may be exhausting for the candidates. There is also a possibility that candidates may not necessarily have the time to fill the form in one go and they may completely forget to get back to it. To avoid losing potential prospects just based on long application format, it is necessary to keep your application forms crisp and to the point.

7. Not heeding to a lack of communication about the company

Whenever employees are not looking for any candidates for the next step of recruitment, they can simply send the candidates an email and inform them about the same. This provides candidates with some closure without them having to bother the employer constantly for updates regarding their application. Besides, it is an official practice to end the communication between two parties on a good note.

8. Not ensuring a working job application URL or platform

If employers are expecting candidates to fill the form from certain links, they need to make sure that those things work first. Technological errors and bugs can become hurdles in the process of hiring qualified candidates. At times, when companies have provided the link to their form, they do not provide any other mode of communication. In such situations, it becomes extremely tricky for candidates to inform the company about the technical errors as well. So having a technical run-through before launching the links is also necessary.

A requirement for a particular post is not only an invitation for applications, it is also a representation of the company which makes it necessary for it to be drafted well. To hire without scaring away your top potential employees, contact OLX People.