Why Making Applicants Jump Through Hoops is Hurting You

Can your hiring process be easy on candidates and companies?

Well, it just so happens that getting this best-of-both-worlds situation is easier than you think! To make your hiring process easier on you and applicants, you need to make your hiring process…well…EASIER!

Let me explain!

What can big companies require in the job application process?

Big companies can get away with requiring a huge, 10-part application right off the bat. They can ask for employment history, resume, references, etc. as the first step and still have plenty of applicants. They make it hard for applicants to supposedly make it easy for themselves.

Most of us can't (and shouldn't) do that!

The old idea that you need to make a candidate jump through hoops during the application process is inherently flawed. 

Not only does it harm you with decreased applicant flow, but often a candidate's ability or willingness to jump through excessive hoops is more often an indication of a desperate candidate rather than a qualified candidate.

Think about it…

Your ideal candidates are often employed by your competition. They already have a job and might only be casually looking for job opportunities on their lunch break. If your application takes a whopping 30 minutes, it's likely going to scare off those (and most) candidates!

What is one of the easiest ways to get more applicants?

Reducing friction in the hiring process.

Here’s how…

1. Quick Application.

Create a quick application that only asks for the essentials…

-contact info

-resume

-short questions to see if they meet your absolute essential requirements

Because this process is quick, lots more people will apply! 

But don’t worry about collecting a bunch of ‘no’ candidates.

Your short questions disqualify candidates who don’t meet your absolute essential requirements; therefore, you've already trimmed down the list and filtered out candidates before you do any work! 

2. Avoid Account Setup.

Do candidates really need to log in or create an account to apply?

If not, find a way to remove that step!

Having to create a separate account is a huge reason applicants choose to pass over your job opportunity. 

3. Wait on References.

Are you asking for references that you realistically won't check until after a good interview?

Then take it out of the initial application and ask them to bring references to the interview. 

4. Automate Part 2.

After the initial application step is complete, automate the email that triggers the second part of your hiring process.

In this second part, you can ask more in-depth questions, schedule a phone/video interview, or request a pre-employment assessment be filled out. 

For candidates, because they passed round 1 and have heard from you, they feel like they are progressing in the hiring process (because they are) and are encouraged to continue.

For you, because this step is automated based on your short questions in step 1, you don't have to lift a finger.

At this point, you’ve filtered out candidates and moved them forward in your hiring process without doing any manual screening!

5. Review. 

How do you screen out applicants?

Here are some ideas…

-You can send a validated assessment or a graded questionnaire. This way you can sort candidates from highest to lowest score. If you have enough applicants, you don't need to worry about those that have scored low.

-You can set up specific criteria for what you are looking for in each position (talks confidently, fully answers questions in the video interview, has at least 2 out of the 5 wish-list items, etc.). This then makes it easy for anyone to screen out applicants based on these criteria (meaning you can potentially pass this off to someone on your team with more time).  

Eventually, you will have to spend your time doing an in-depth review of the top candidates…interviewing, and hiring, but this is the part you want to spend your time and energy on.

Having a structured process like this benefits candidates because they move through the hiring process more quickly…

…and it benefits you because candidates are less likely to accept another job between their application and your interview.

We teach our clients to follow this framework, and for many of our clients, we do it for them, right up to the point of being ready for an interview. 

By doing so, we've seen an increased number of applicants, faster time to fill positions, more successful new hires, and huge time savings for our clients! 

If you'd be interested in learning more about how we can help, please do not hesitate to reach out!