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FEATURE
Understanding the Job Seeker Experience: The Buck Stops Here
By Charles Handler, Ph.D.
While there are many advantages associated with the continued movement toward electronic hiring processes, ask any online job seeker and they will probably be happy to tell you that there sure is a lot of room for improvement. While technology has done an amazing job at allowing job seekers access to all kinds of jobs located in all corners of the world, searching and applying for jobs via the web has become synonymous with frustration for a large number of individuals. No wonder that, despite what you may think, most hires are still not made from applicants applying online.
While it is understood that the world of online hiring is still in a relatively early stage of development, the situation is presently such that changes in the hiring process are a direct result of the technology that has been made available. Furthermore, new technologies have arisen in a fragmented manner, addressing individual parts of the hiring process rather then approaching the process as a whole. While this trend has had a significant impact on the way organizations deal with the hiring process, it has also had a significant impact on another important, but often overlooked party, the job seeker.
Job boards are a prime example of what I am talking about here. They were the first real “killer ap” in hiring since the jobs section in the classified ads. While they made it easy for people to learn about jobs, they created all kinds of chaos downstream in the process because organizations were completely unprepared to deal with the consequences of increased access. While technology quickly provided tools to help deal with this problem and organizations have made good progress working to deal with these issues, has anyone taken time to stop and think about the impact of this technology on the job seeker? Isn’t the fact that these persons are often left feeling a bit confused and frustrated of critical importance considering that job seekers are essentially customers who are looking to make a significant transaction with your organization?
It’s about time that we take a look at things from the perspective of the job seeker for once.
A typical applicant experience looks like this:
Job seeker is interested in finding a new job because they are either unemployed or want to upgrade, relocate, or just get a change of scenery.
The first thing they may do is to hit some of the major job boards to look for something that fits their needs. They visit each of the usual suspects and, after wading through a bunch of ads and other stuff that really isn’t relevant, they take the time to create a profile and register. Once they have invested this time they begin to search via a combination of menu choices and keyword entries. The search is somewhat frustrating though because, while a few jobs that seem somewhat related may pop up, they experience a ton of spam or “noise” job postings that really don’t have anything to do with their particular skills or interest.
But, they need a job so they decide to apply to one of the few hits they have found. They click the “apply now” button and are taken immediately to the website of the company they are applying to. At this time, they are asked to re-enter all of the information they already entered when registering for the job board. This is because the company posting the job wants to be sure to capture their information directly into the system that they have just spent astronomical amounts of cash on. So, the individual fills out another application and sends it in. They are thanked for their interest and that’s it.
While poking around on the corporate website after submitting their application, the job seeker decides to look around the careers section to gather more information about what it might be like to work for the company. They experience a sense of déjà vu because it seems that this company is pretty much the same as most of the other large companies that they have applied to. There seem to be the same pictures of smiling employees of all shapes, sizes, and colors. The claims about valuing diversity, providing a solid career path, a corporate fitness program, free massages or whatever else may make it seem like this is THE place to work because of how much employees are valued and how many opportunities they have access to also seem all too familiar.
The job seeker may repeat this basic process with several variations including visiting a niche board or going directly to the employer’s website. Unfortunately, they often experience almost the exact same result- nothing. Well, ok maybe an automated email telling them that their application has been received and is being considered. In a few cases the job seeker may actually find themselves presented with a mysterious link that leads to a set of questions that may seem a bit strange. It is hard for them to really put these questions in context because very little explanation has been given as to why they are being asked to answer them or what impact this may have on the hiring process.
After this set of events, all the job seeker can do is wait and check their in-box. There is no way to really do any follow up calls, there are no promises of any feedback on the results of the questions they were required to answer, nothing.
So what does a motivated job seeker do now? Besides waiting around for the Great (job) Pumpkin to appear, they have a few options, option 1 is to go online and execute the shotgun approach. This involves the mentality that “If I apply for enough jobs, something will have to give, someone will show interest eventually, right?” Option 2 is to personalize the search a bit more by relying on actual human to human networking or research. While this networking and research may involve completing an online application, this is usually only something that they are asked to do by the individual with whom they are interacting to talk about the job. That is, we are really interested in hiring you but in order to officially enter into the process, we need you to go online and submit an application so HR can have a record of it.”
What is my point with all this?
At the end of the day, while the job seeker has been given increased ability to access information about available jobs and to express interest in a particular job, the job search process itself still may seem a bit convoluted, time consuming, confusing and impersonal. Part of this is definitely due to limitations of technology (it is impossible to perfectly match a job seeker to a set of job requirements and most job boards don’t seem to feel accuracy of matching is really a priority) and resources (it is not realistic that a person will have time to contact each and every applicant to explain to them why they aren’t a good fit). Despite this, I think that there is still a lot that many companies can do to improve the experience for job seekers.
I feel that failure to make an effort to smooth over rough spots created by the technology that underlies electronic hiring and the characteristics of the process it has created can make a big difference to the job seeker and ultimately to the organization. This is because enough experiences such as the one I described earlier can present problems for organizations. A few of these problems include:
Brand erosion- Yes the way a candidate is treated during the application process can have ramifications that extend well beyond the process itself. Frustrated candidates may just decide to take their business elsewhere when presented with the opportunity to purchase goods or services from an organization with which they have had a negative hiring related interaction. Or maybe they will share negative experiences in online or offline communities. Any marketing person will tell you that when building a brand, every single bit of good feeling and acceptance helps towards attainment of the bigger picture- positive brand recognition.
Loss of good talent- While times of low hiring activity don’t allow for job seekers to be choosy, times will change. Once a full on war for talent scenario returns (and I believe it will), the tables will be turned and the job seekers who have skills and experience will be in the proverbial cat bird seat. Many of these folks may venture onto the web to test the waters and these folks will have the luxury of making choices. You’d better believe that their experiences during the application process will have a major impact on their decision making.
Lack of differentiation- By throwing up your hands and letting technology dictate the status quo for your application process, you are allowing your organization to be just like everyone else out there in cyberspace. Failure to begin working to create a friendly and effective process will assure that you remain part of the problem to potential candidates.
Legal ramifications- The less friendly your process is, the more likely it is that someone will take issue with it. The more confusing, the more a frustrated applicant may decide they have been treated unfairly. While an unfriendly process may not represent an imminent threat, why give anyone any extra reason to sue you?
So what can be done?
To be clear, everyone shares the blame for the current state of things. This includes job seekers who should realize that the web may have more value as a research tool that can help them figure out who has jobs available and that actually getting hired may require them to begin doing the research needed to find a human with whom they can talk about the job. No matter how they got this way, things are what they are and we need to do what we can with what is currently available. In my mind this means companies looking to build a user friendly and effective online hiring process need to think about doing the following:
Upgrade matching technology- Hiring the right person via the web starts with a good match. There are options other then the keyword search model and I do think that these can not only increase the candidate experience by reducing noise and helping job seekers find jobs they really do want to apply for, but they can also help reduce the resume overload experienced by many organizations.
Combine electronic process with actual interaction when possible- This is a difficult issue to deal with but getting creative about interfacing candidates with real live people may offer some real advantages. Perhaps this starts on the front end by having a presence at career fairs or events where the employment brand can be presented via interpersonal interaction. This may help support less personal automated parts of the process.
Help provide feedback to candidates- Another difficult issue to be dealt with but one that is important. Companies need to begin thinking about how they can provide something of value to candidates that take the time to apply to their organization.
Make it useable- There has been much research done by persons working in this industry to demonstrate the fact that many corporate web sites and job boards are simply not well designed. The online search process is hard enough, why make it harder by ignoring one of the things that is actually under your control? It starts with simple ideas like having actual job seekers test your site and provide feedback on what is confusing and what can be done better.
Explain what is happening in the process- If a job seeker is being redirected, if they are asked to complete an assessment, if the hiring process will take 4 months to complete someone needs to explain what is going on. I have been amazed at how many times I have seen companies plunge a candidate directly into an online assessment with literally no explanation of why they are there or what they are being asked to do. Communication on these issues is relatively easy and is essential for keeping candidates aware of where they stand, what they are being asked to do, and why they are being asked to do it.
Make it job related- Never leave a candidate wondering. “Why are they asking me this?” Or “What does this have to do with my ability to do the job?”
OK so enough with the ranting and raving. I completely understand that the issues I have raised present real challenges. If they were all so easy to do, more folks would have done them already. My main point is that we need to be aware of the problem and begin thinking of doing things, even little things, to help move us forward. I believe it will make a real difference for both job seekers and employers.