Three reasons why applicants are not choosing your business

By: Alex Morisson 03-11-2015

Categories:** HR Trends in Recruitment,
Why are you not chosen? Three reasons why applicants are not choosing your business

This is a common occurence: you are in the final phase of the recruitment procedure, and all that stands between employment and the perfect candidate is a choice of two. You assume that this is it, and after a long search for a brilliant candidate for your vacancy you're finally working on the conditions for employment and it happens: The opt-out. The employee says no to your proposal, while you were under the impression that everything was done and dusted.

So why did this happen? Employment and recruitment are an aspect of business which is tricky on both sides. Applicants often complain they cannot find the right work for them, and recruitment complain that they cannot find the right candidates. We'll be looking at three areas which can be easily improved to help you become the first choice.

Motives
Understanding the motives for your applicants looking into your vacancy is important. You can offer the company car, the career prospects, and the salary to die for, but is this what they are after? Without thinking too much into it, you can turn many applicants away by making false assumptions. The current generation attaches more importance to a balance between work and life which is more beneficial to them, as well as values beyond just material advancement. What you may see as a wonderful deal could actually go against their moral values, and what employee's of this generation is looking for are companies that recognise the importance of those values to them. Being able to understand these values, and convey the importance of them in your company in creating a happy and productive employee will make a much better impression on the applicant than a shiny car will.

A lack of employer brand
What is it that you stand for? What are the core values of your company, your image, your brand? How does this relate to the other employers who are in the same line of work? In other words, what is your corporate identity, and how does it manifest in your workplace? Employees don't only want a good job. Rather, they want somewhere to belong, where they can identify with their work and their employer. Marketing your products and services will make the sales, but that does not add anything to the attractiveness of the employment practices of your organisation. As such, knowing what your company stand for, and how to better convey the message and meaning behind your corporation will likely increase the chance that an applicant will stay intrigued by the position.

By address
Another major pitfall is by addressing, or rather, by not addressing during the selection process. If you wait too long to give feedback to a potential candidate in an interview you can give the impression that you do not really want that person. The consequence of this is that the employee then does not feel like taking the position you are offering. As soon as this feeling is transmitted to the applicant, the insecurity sets in. The choice for the employee then goes to the company that'll receive him with open arms, who made it clear within an acceptable timeframe of the procedure and offered an employment contract.

For applicants nothing applies more than the same that applies to the clients; examine the questions behind the questions in accordance with their experiences. Let them see that you have a genuine

By: Alex Morisson