It Takes Two To Tango

How to effectively avoid being ghosted by candidates during the recruitment process. 

Today we saw a very interesting LinkedIn post, questioning how or if the recruitment process has changed within the last decade. Consequently, we asked ourselves the same question.

It happens more and more often within the recruitment process that after a screen or a full interview with a recruiter or a hiring manager, candidates disappear. Previously you could read many articles about how recruiters or employers never provided feedback or ghosted the candidates in the process, now the situation is shifting. Employers started to work on their Employer Branding strategies to attract candidates, but it seems that now the candidates started to ghost the hiring managers, recruiters – so can we claim that the era of candidate ghosting has approached?

Why do candidates disappear from the recruitment process without a word? 

• First of all, it may be due to the number of offers they currently receive from the market. They participate in many processes simultaneously and often leave other employers without an answer when they receive a good offer.
• Secondly, the recruitment processes sometimes stretch indefinitely and the candidates want to find employment quickly.
• Also, it may happen that the candidates are not really involved in the process, only tasting the waters. They submit their CV to see if they would receive an invitation from the recruiter, but they are not truly interested in the position, the company or even in changing the job.

How can you limit the number of candidates who ghost you?

Well, make sure to get their involvement from the very beginning. So, how to design the engagement?

First, when creating a job offer – be transparent about your company culture, describe the role and duties as clearly as possible, so the person can understand if they want to join your organization from the cultural perspective or if the challenges associated with the role are interesting to them. Be frank, about the salary and encourage candidates to apply by attracting them to your company and to the challenges ahead of them. If the job description does not include the salary information, it is crucial to discuss the compensation during the initial steps of the interview process, at the pre-screening phase. It will help to ensure the expectations of both parties are in line. Also, when designing the job offer, remember it has to be an accurate reflection of the position itself and the working environment. If during the interview there is a discrepancy between the job description and the role, it can result in a discouraged and disengaged candidate.

Once you got the attention of the potential candidate, try to also find out if the person has the competencies required for the role – this saves time for both parties engaged – the person interested in the job, you and the hiring manager.

The easiest way to do this is by placing a short questionnaire in the advert, possibly 1 or 2 questions about the competencies that are required for the job. For example, if we are looking for a person who is very analytical for the position of Digital Marketing Manager, we can ask in the questionnaire to specify the tools they use in their work. In the second question, you may ask for a brief justification of the use of these tools.

It is important that these questions are not marked as mandatory. Only then will we find out, at the beginning of the process, whether the candidates have actually read the offer thoroughly and whether they want to spend an additional couple of minutes preparing a few important answers.

Moreover, remember to communicate upfront with the candidates about how many steps of the interview process there are. Make sure to include the information about the additional assessments or tasks – it will help candidates to plan ahead and build an atmosphere of transparency from the very start.

During the interview process, inform the candidates about the progress of the recruitment process, let them know when they can expect the feedback, notify them if there are any delays, keep the communication open and send a follow-up note if you don’t hear back.

Overall, it takes two to tango

Author: Szymon Kluba