It goes without saying that communication is crucial in the recruitment process, especially when it is entirely virtual. Poor communications can result in losing top talent.
To avoid communication mistakes, it’s essential to hear what candidates have to say about how they’d like recruiters to correspond with them. We surveyed more than 500 job seekers in September 2020 to do just that.
Based on their feedback, here are a few tips for avoiding mistakes in your recruiter communication process:
Be clear and organized
Job seekers say they would turn down a job offer if virtual communications made it difficult to understand role expectations or company culture, or made the interview process feel less organized, according to our recent Virtual Recruitment study.
Prioritize the candidate experience to ensure all of these aspects are clear and enticing.
Often, recruiters publish job descriptions that are too long and wordy. The real qualifications and expectations get lost in all of the noise. Spend time revising your job descriptions to highlight the essential parts of the team’s culture and job requirements.
Additionally, make sure your entire hiring process feels seamless. This includes a quick application process, immediate confirmation, and regular communication leading up to and after the interview.
Take advantage of HR tools and technologies to help streamline this process. For example, you might leverage scheduling platforms, job description tools, or candidate communication management systems.
Make each step in the hiring process as painless as possible for your team and your talent.
Be transparent and responsive
According to our study, candidates universally agree transparent and frequent communication as most important in the virtual recruitment process.
Make sure your applicants understand where you are in the process by communicating regularly. Frequent and honest communication demonstrates your respect for the talented folks in your slate. It shows them that you value their time as much as they value yours.
If you allow candidates to go weeks without hearing any updates, they will get frustrated with your hiring process. Then, they’ll start to assume your company is not a good fit for them.
Instead of leaving your candidates hanging, establish a workflow where they hear from your team every week or two. Even if the process moves slowly on your end, you can be transparent and let job seekers know that they’re still in consideration.
Additionally, once you are sure a candidate is no longer being considered, send them a note immediately. This show of respect will hopefully encourage them to apply again to your company in the future.
Be personal
Nearly 60% of job seekers from our study rank personalized emails as their favorite form of recruiter communication. This doesn’t mean you write every email from scratch, but you should develop customizable email templates to enable more successful connections.
You may feel like getting more creative than email, but video conversations, video messages, and social media are not popular methods of recruiter communication among our surveyed candidates. Instead, put your creativity toward well-crafted emails.
For example, your initial introduction, the follow-up, the interview invitation, and the interview follow-up should all contain customization elements. Make the candidate feel like they are your top priority.
Additionally, some candidates would turn down a job offer if the manner of communication made the candidate feel less connected to the interviewer.
When you finally meet with each candidate, give them your undivided attention. Interviews are not just meant for recruiters to find the right talent, they are also for candidates to find the best fitting employer. Be the reason why they feel they’ll be a good fit for your company.
