Prioritizing each applicant's experience during the application process can help improve the quality of candidates you receive. You want to be sure everything is straightforward, easy, and not too time-consuming. Here are some things to keep in mind to shift your application process with the candidate in mind.
Nowadays, most of your applicants are applying to your organization from a mobile device. Be sure that you are thinking about the mobile-friendliness of your application process first. This goes beyond just optimizing the process for mobile. Don't simply take your desktop application and convert it to mobile.
The overall experience on mobile can be different from a larger device, such as laptops or desktop computers. Any difficulty in accessing information or the application can lead to you losing a potentially great candidate.
You want to prioritize making the whole process fast and easy for applicants. This means you don't want to include too many questions in your application, nor do you want to require any long assessments or anything of that nature. Doing so could cost you up to 40% of your potential applicants.
Some things you can do to make your application process a bit easier is to have certain information autofill. For instance, job history from the applicant's resume would carry over to the application with ease instead of entering the information again manually. Be sure you are also only retaining information that you absolutely need at this step in the process. Don't ask for too much.
Making the application more efficient will help reduce the number of applicants that drop off. However, you will still have some candidates who pause in the middle of an application. You can take steps to keep these individuals engaged after they've left your application page by implementing conversational hiring.
Conversational hiring is a recruitment method that allows you to stay in touch with the applicant every step of the way. If they drop off in the middle of their application, you can set up messaging systems to remind them to finish up. You can also set up systems to follow up with candidates who have completed their applications to update them on where they stand in the process. All of this improves their overall application experience and perception of you as an employer.
There are aspects of the hiring process that are susceptible to bias. The interview process can especially be riddled with bias. So, as an employer, it is important to reduce this bias as much as possible and focus on the person applying for the job. Place more importance on their skills and what they bring to the table.
Generally, people are going to search for workers that remind them of themselves. Adding assessments to your application process can help you reduce your bias. This gives you a good idea of the applicant's skills without putting your own bias into the decision-making process.
Working with a staffing agency like Timpl can help you fine-tune your application process to ensure you are getting the top talent. Contact us to see how we can assist you in your hiring efforts.