Is Your Company Discouraging High Caliber Job Seekers?

One of the biggest complaints to come from recruiters in recent years has been that there simply aren’t enough talented job seeker to go around.  Whether or not this is the case, of course, is a matter for debate and many would argue that the only reason that employers nowadays can’t find people to meet their stringent requirements for particular skills sets, qualifications and experience is because they are not prepared to pay them a reasonable wage.  The issue of salary though, isn’t the only one that sometimes stands in the way of recruiters being able to find their perfect candidates.  In some cases it is how they go about advertizing their vacant positions that discourages good quality candidates from applying.

job seeker

                                   

It may be a buyer’s market out there and employers may be busy enough without having to deal with enquiries from potential applicants, but how can businesses expect to be able to distinguish the poor candidates from the good ones, or the good ones from the outstanding ones, if they are not even prepared to communicate with them?  All too often nowadays, companies place job advertisements that withhold contact names, numbers and e-mail addresses, presumably in a deliberate attempt to make sure that all applications follow their carefully controlled systems and that HR and hiring managers don’t have to “waste” their time dealing with interested job seekers.  Not only does the initiative that potential applicants show in contacting recruiters tell its own story though, but the interactions between the two parties at this early stage can bring useful insights as to the suitability of individuals for the role.  Sure, their resumes ought to be able to sell their capabilities to some degree, but they can’t necessarily give an idea as to whether particular individuals would be a good match in terms of the company’s culture or whether they have the right attitude for the job.  The person who looks perfect on paper and who is selected for interview according to the parameters which are set on a computer system often isn’t ideal when you get to meet them, and vice versa.  By discouraging early contact with potential candidates, employers effectively deprive themselves of establishing these things at the pre-interview stage, which can mean inviting the wrong people for interview.

Alongside withholding contact names and numbers, some businesses also withhold their company names from their job advertisements and simply offer a vague description of what the business does instead.  This, however, presents them with a couple of further difficulties in terms of encouraging high caliber applicants.  First of all, no job seeker worth his or her salt is going to want to apply for a job when they can’t establish for themselves whether or not they would be a good fit for the organization, and with no company details of course they can’t even research the business to find out whether this is the case or not.  Secondly, the impression that job seekers get when companies withhold their names is that the businesses are either ones of poor reputation or ones which are virtually unknown and don’t have strong brands.  Surely if an employer believes in his or her company and thinks it’s a great place to work, they would be only too happy to promote it through their job ads.  Not only this though, but who wants to work for a company that so blatantly puts all its faith in systems and none whatsoever in the human touch?

It seems strange that people who wouldn’t consider buying even a low-cost item without knowing all about it would expect high caliber job seeker to apply for a job with a company that won’t even identify itself or is not prepared to talk to them about their suitability for the role.  Talented and experienced job seekers are keen to ensure that the applications that they do make are right on target, and so any organization that prevents them from finding out whether they would be a good match is only likely to discourage these particular individuals and encourage those who are more desperate or inexperienced instead.  Systems such as Applicant Tracking Systems can serve a number of valuable roles in the recruitment process, but if they do away with all human contact they can also lead to missing opportunities to hire great employees.