According to the Minneapolis/St Paul Business Journal:

• More than 1 in 4 candidates reports having had a bad experience when applying for a job. 42% would never seek employment with that company again

• 48% of candidates drop out of applicant tracking systems

Part of attracting the best talent comes down to the nuts and bolts of your hiring and application process. If past applicants have had bad experiences they can potentially spread the word and your corporate brand will suffer. Also, as the finding above shows, if your application process is too difficult, job candidates will simply drop out voluntarily. In the article, industry expert Dana Manciagli provides these tips for improving your hiring and application process:

• Make sure your application process is simple. Have you tried your application process recently? You should. Determine where the pain points are and what is working. You can also interview job candidates about their experience to gain feedback for process improvements

• Treat job candidates as people. Automated messages have become far too common. Remember job interviewing is about developing a relationship so both you and the candidate can determine if this job is a good fit. Communications during the hiring process should be timely and personal

• Make sure you have a great online candidate experience. Review your social media channels through the eyes of the job candidate and determine if your company career site is easy to navigate. According to a LinkedIn survey 64% candidates use mobile devices to browse career opportunities on social and professional networks, so having a great presence is important

Lou Adler reframes the application process in a post on LinkedIn’s Talent Blog, “the best people need to be proactively convinced to consider your opportunity. This requires compelling messages, opportunities for exploratory conversations, persistent recruiters and engaged hiring managers.” Think about “attract in vs. weed out”. Take some time today to go through your application process from start to finish. This week arrange some interviews with your top performing hires to gather their hiring stories. Does your application process take a candidate-first approach? [caption id="attachment_802" align="alignleft" width="200"] 48% of candidates drop out of applicant tracking systems. Take steps today to improve yours. (Image source: ere.net)[/caption]