As the leaves begin to fall and the nights get a little darker, there’s a glimmer of light in the world of work this Autumn. Businesses are picking up where they left off pre-pandemic, which means that most have begun to hire again. According to www.thisismoney.co.uk there are now one million vacancies online, which is amazing news for Jobseekers. However, Andrew Hunter, co-founder of jobsite Adzuna, says there is an ‘acute talent shortage.’
Adding to this, the REC has reported UK employers face the worst shortage of job candidates on record. But don’t worry, if you’re currently hiring, we’re here to help!
Let’s look at four reasons why candidates (especially the right candidates) aren’t applying to your vacancy, and how you can fix this during the current recruitment crisis!
Your Job Title Isn’t Searchable
There could be many reasons why your title isn’t appearing in a candidate’s job search. Here’s a few of the most common errors…
Lots of employers are now being creative with their job ads, which is great – but we’d advise to get creative in the body of the ad! If you have ‘Content Unicorn’ or ‘Marketing Superstar’ as your title, chances are you’re positioned far below most other job ads for the same role.
Candidates are much more likely to search directly for ‘Content Creator’, or ‘Marketing Executive’. So, keeping the job title to the point and concise is key. Job boards like LinkedIn and Indeed rely on the key words in your title so they can match with jobseekers’ searches.
You may be using Title Creep. If you add things to job titles such as ‘SENIOR Accountant’, candidates might shy away because they don’t view themselves as ‘Senior’. This also happens when someone with lots of experience sees a ‘Junior’ position – they simply might not feel they fit into that category anymore.
Leave it out of the title, and instead focus on what you need from the candidate in the requirements section. This opens-up possibilities for candidates who may not have applied otherwise.
Pro tip: Don’t sugar coat the role, keep it as clear as possible. This way, you’ll be in the correct place when a candidate is searching for a similar role, and you won’t put them off with any Title Creeps. Save the creepiness for Halloween.
Your Job Ad Lacks Key Information
Remember the following layout when creating a job ad:
Responsibilities – Make sure candidates know what they’ll be doing day-to-day.
Requirements – Do they need a Bachelors? 3 years admin experience? Put this in the job description so the right people apply.
Rewards – There are so, so many vacancies out there – all boasting the best rewards/facilities/training programmes for their workers. Make sure you show off what you can offer!
Candidates are likely to skip to the next ad if they don’t know what their day-to-day responsibilities are, or if they know absolutely nothing about the company. Make sure you add as much information as possible.
Pro tip: Make sure to bullet point important information – this looks much better when candidates apply on their mobile phone, which is becoming more and more popular!
You Don’t Give Away the Pay OR the Pay Is Too Low
If there’s anything Gen Z and Millennials dislike more than ever, it’s a job ad with ‘competitive salary.’ Whilst there are plenty of reasons to put this, the current generation of candidates are not willing to go through 3-4 stages of interviews to find out what the pay is at the very end.
It might seem hard to write down an exact figure, because sometimes salary really does depend on experience – but if that’s the case for your vacancy, try to give an average so the candidate has a rough idea, or at least the minimum they’d receive if they were to get the role.
On the other hand, you may have posted the salary, but it’s too low. If that’s the case, we’d recommend that you research the average salary for the position in question, specifically in your area.
Pretend you’re a jobseeker and look at things from the candidate’s point of view! You may find there’s lots more on offer, with much higher pay. If you can’t budge on the pay bracket, you should consider changing your job ad to cater to candidates that may have a little less experience than what you’re looking for.
You May not Seem Credible
The internet can be a dark and scary place filled with scams, hackers, and data phishing. One of the biggest things that could hold candidates back is knowing nothing about your company.
We’d recommend starting your ad with a bit about the business, with links to your Trustpilot or Glassdoor & website. We’d also encourage you to get current employees to review their experience with you on platforms such as Indeed. Whilst this can sometimes be a gamble, honest reviews look much better than no reviews at all.
Having more information about your company may be the decider on whether or not you get any quality candidates.
The best advice we can give you at Beam is to ‘trust the process’. The more job adverts you do, the more you’ll understand what keywords work, the best layout, and how to really stand out amongst the tough competition!
