The term “ghosting” is becoming more familiar in recruiting due to the candidate-driven nature of today’s hiring market. It’s a term being used to describe those candidates who don’t turn up for interview, or even worse, don’t show up for their first day at work. Despite several attempts to follow up with these candidates they don’t respond to calls and just ignore attempts to contact them. This type of behaviour doesn’t seem specific to one industry or one type of role either, it’s being seen at all levels and in almost every industry. Whilst it was always common in manual or unskilled jobs, it is becoming more prevalent in white-collar roles.
A candidate-driven market means that job seekers can be more selective about the interviews and offers they take. Candidates are getting more offers and between accepting that offer and starting the new job they may have received a more attractive invitation to interview and depending on time frames, been made another offer. Job seekers simply have more choice.
At Personnel Placements we try to keep lines of communication open all the way through the recruitment process and hopefully build a working relationship with a candidate such that they feel they can tell us if they have changed their mind or simply had a better offer but there are other ways to minimise this happening to you.
Showcase Your Company
We have talked before about how important your Employer Brand is to make sure that potential employees see you as an employee of choice. Candidates will do their research via your website but more and more will look at your social media platforms so if they don’t see anything on them , it’s time to get yours started and updated. It’s a free and easy way to promote your business, showcase the working environment and give potential new recruits a real flavour of what it’s like to work there. If you are sharing stories of your staff doing well, thriving in their roles the easier it is for people to see themselves working in that business.
Talk To People
I already mentioned communication and that is key! Candidates use the internet to apply for jobs and that can make for an easy process but please don’t rely on the automation this brings. You must engage with your candidates on a personal level. Research suggests that the biggest candidate engagement problems are tied to poor communication, a lack of information and a time-consuming process. The majority of applicants expect some type of email response early in the recruitment process. Let candidates know if they are not shortlisted as soon as possible and those that are need to know about the recruitment process and the timescales involved. Feedback, or the lack of it, is also a real frustration for candidates so when you interview use a structured process to record your thoughts and observations in readiness to feedback after interview.
When Is The Best Time to Interview?
First thing in the morning and as early in the week as possible tend to be the best time to schedule interviews analysis suggests. Monday morning between 9am and 10am in particular has proven to be the best time to avoid candidates not showing up and then subsequently ghosting you.
Your interview as we said needs to be structured and should give the candidate the opportunity to tell you why they think they are the right person for the job. Allow time for candidates to ask questions and make sure you know about staff benefits, holiday entitlement and all those extra things that makes you the company they want to work for.
Is The Job Description Right
Candidates can apply for multiple jobs with similar job titles at the click of a button. To make sure that when they apply for your job they are applying because they have read a memorable job advert or the job description and liked what they see can be the difference between them arriving for interview or not.
Each of the roles within your business need to have a specific job description. Sometimes a job title is not as descriptive as you would think, and in fact might mean very different things depending on the company. For example, a business analyst may be crunching numbers at one organisation and working on a customer service strategy at another.
Job titles can mean different things within a business, depending on the company and the sector it falls in. It is important that the job description and the responsibilities of the role the candidate is applying for are clear and specify exactly what the new recruits tasks will be as well as describing the experience and background needed to excel in the position.
Remember that candidates will be applying for several jobs and so having a memorable job description will help your position stay in their minds rather than be forgotten as they think about more recent job applications they have made.
Know Your Stuff
Once you start the recruitment process try and tell the candidates more about your company and why it’s a great place to work at each contact. This might be sending them an information pack prior to interview with confirmation of staff benefits and perks or a tour of the building during the interview process. Keeping their interest and creating almost a little bit of excitement at the prospect of working for your company will help to make sure that not showing up it the last thing on their minds!
