Just about every company in hiring mode conducts phone screens prior to bringing candidates in for face to face interviews. Most leave this task to HR in the hopes that finalists for the job have been properly vetted so time’s not wasted with candidates who aren’t a fit. Some companies do phone screens followed by full scale phone interviews with hiring managers for expediency or because a candidate is not local.
So what’s the problem? One word: technology. Plus another word: millennials. As the largest generation in the workforce, millennials are setting the trend for how technology is used in general, and how effective (or ineffective) it is in the recruiting process. Now, this next statement won’t be a surprise If you’re the parent of someone born between 1983-2000, but millennials don’t answer their phones. That’s right, the device that was once primarily used for speaking to other people is now used for everything but that. Texting, instant-messaging, tweeting, Instagramming, Snapchatting, yes: talking, no.
There’s no magic formula to getting millennials, or any candidate, to connect. It’s really just a combination of best practices related to job sourcing, communication techniques, and common courtesy. Taken together, the odds of getting job hunters to reach out to you can be greatly increased. Here are some tips:
Target the right jobseekers for the right position
Product/market fit, considered the holy grail of business, is defined as the degree in which a product satisfies a strong market demand. It’s an important concept that can and should be applied to recruiting, where the ‘product’ is the open position to be filled and the ‘market’ is the pool of candidates identified as potentials for the position. Getting your product in front of the right candidates will make a big difference in your connect rate. Do the research before posting the job – determine the best place to post the position, including job boards and social channels. The days of posting every position to every site are long gone. We live in an era of hyper-targeted messaging and this should absolutely apply to recruiting.
Recognize that connecting is not just for phone calls anymore
Yes, it’s still important to many recruiters to actually speak to the person applying before bringing them in. But doesn’t it make more sense for that first connection to be the way people connect to each other, like a text or an email? As you begin to capture candidate information, don’t hesitate to reach out prior to any interview, phone or otherwise, with information about the job and the company. The faster you can create a dialogue with your talent pool, the more likely they are to pick up when you call them for a phone screen or an interview.
Treat every candidate like your best customer
It might seem like too much work to welcome every candidate to the hiring process, communicate with them throughout so they know what to expect, then let them know whether they got the job or not. But the key thing that many companies forget is that a great reputation and excellent word of mouth is just as important for recruiting as it is to sell your product or service. There’s no need for companies themselves to be transparent about their hiring practices – that’s what Glassdoor is for. Landing the best candidates is as important to sustaining a business as landing the best customers, so treat your candidates like the asset they are. If you create an outstanding candidate experience, you can exponentially increase your connection rate.
Our hiring solution connects with today’s candidates using today’s technology. Contact us at (877) 262-7358 and we’ll show you how to land the top talent available for your open positions.