Five Strategies to Get More Job Applicants
Unless you’re hiring for a 100% remote role, the days of a flood of applicants are long gone.
There are exceptions of course, but candidates’ behaviors have changed. In recent data from iCIMS, “Job seekers have become more discriminating about where they submit their applications. With demand for workers slowing, candidates are doing their due diligence and scouring career sites before hitting ‘apply.’”
You could argue that there are positives to this: candidates aren’t applying just to get unemployment benefits, and there is an assumed level of interest if they do apply. But the reality is that when you’re on the other side of the hiring desk, and your applicant count is a big 0, you might start to get a little stressed.
So how do you increase your applicant pool?
Conduct a Self-Audit.
When I led the recruiting function in a public accounting firm, this was one of the very first strategies I implemented. Most HRIS systems are not user-friendly. If you’re in doubt, apply for one of your own jobs. Is it easy to get through the process? Are you being asked to submit the same information twice?
All of these things come together to create an experience for candidates that is either positive or negative.
Write your job posting with impact, not requirements, in mind.
The role of the job posting is to attract and engage the candidate. It is not the same thing as the legal job description, which has a place, and absolutely should be given to the candidate throughout the process.
Are you talking about the candidate’s impact in the job description? The role they will play in shaping the team, the organization, the culture? All of these things matter.
Check your title: too high or too low?
Don’t let anyone tell you titles don’t matter—they absolutely do. An accurate title that is similar to what most companies are calling this role is crucial.
Why? Because candidates will look for roles that they think are a fit. If your position is labeled as a Director of Accounting, but everywhere else, the role would be considered a Senior Accountant, you’ll end up losing out on potential applicants that would be a good fit.
Sponsor your job posting.
We don’t get any kick-backs for this! But sponsoring your job among the sea of similar postings can help it rise to the top. LinkedIn seems to be the better option for higher-level, more professional roles. Indeed or ZipRecruiter is the better fit for more clerical or blue-collar jobs. But even a small budgetary amount goes a long way towards making it stand out.
Ensure your website is being scraped.
If a budget for sponsoring is out of the question, check that Indeed and LinkedIn are scraping your website. You do need a certain amount of volume of open requisitions, but this is a “free” resource.
While we’re just slightly biased towards outbound recruiting, this is a great start to make sure you’re attracting the right candidates!