How to Prevent Candidate Drop-offs

Whether you obtain candidates through job adverts or have a more search-led recruitment strategy, finding great candidates can be challenging. These challenges are only made more difficult when hiring for senior-level positions which require a more specific set of skills and experiences.

Once you have great candidates, you’ll want them to go through the whole recruitment process so they can potentially be hired at the end; however, candidates do occasionally pull out of the recruitment process, setting back recruitment efforts – making it longer and, therefore, more expensive. What can you do to prevent it?

Application times

Recruitment Process Time

Communication

Be clear and transparent about the salary

Discuss the future

Application times

If you choose to advertise your open role and rely on active candidates approaching you, your application time can be a big factor in people dropping off your application process even before their candidates. The majority (73%) of applicants abandon job applications if they take longer than 15 minutes, according to Hays.

Long job applications with lots of questions may be beneficial to HR (so they can sift the right people out); however, the initial application should only take 5-8 minutes to complete. If it’s optimised correctly, this should still provide enough information to filter and progress to the next stage.

Recruitment Process Time

Perhaps the most common reason for candidates to drop out of the recruitment process is time. Oakstone often talks about how “time kills all deals”, and it’s true. Similarly, to the downside of the long application process, long recruitment processes can make candidates lose interest resulting in companies having to start their recruitment processes all over again.

Ask yourself whether the number of interviews and meetings in your recruitment process is necessary. Unnecessary meetings and interviews make your recruitment process tedious and make hiring managers look like they’re not serious about hiring. This will encourage people to look for opportunities elsewhere.

Secondly, a drawn-out recruitment process reflects badly on your company. This may reflect on how your corporate culture is perceived, and potential candidates may think their career potential will be stifled by a slow-moving organisation, and they may decide to withdraw from the process.

There are many reasons for a slow recruitment process which include fear of a bad hire, low-quality candidates and slow interview processes; however, by working with the right recruitment partners, you can streamline and optimise these.

Don’t ruin your employer brand by offering a bad candidate experience - Commit to moving forward as soon as you feel you have found the right candidate but make sure you have backups!

Communication

Communication is important in every step of the recruitment process, from the initial contact to the onboarding. A lack of communication during the recruitment process shows candidates that your recruiters/ hiring managers are not fully invested or committed to the process.

Candidates want transparent communication so they know where they are in the recruitment process and whether they are moving on to the next stages. Candidates can quickly lose interest in a company and a position if they are kept in the dark. Highly sought-after candidates will be approached with new positions regularly, so if you’re serious about not losing them, keep them updated.

Candidates should have one or two points of contact who are willing to be on hand for updates, advice, and feedback.

Great communication reflects excellently on the company too! A great percentage of our feedback refers to how well we maintain contact throughout the process – people really appreciate it.

Take steps to assess your communication quality, and make improvements.

Be clear and transparent about the salary

Being clear and transparent about the salary benchmarks the position and highlights how important the particular skills and experiences are. If you’re not clear on the salary, someone with a much higher salary may apply or be put forward for the position. Once they know the salary, they’re highly likely to drop off your recruitment process, causing it to start again. Save yourself time by being open, honest and truthful about the salary and what you’re willing to pay.

Discuss the future

People rarely move companies for short-term opportunities; therefore, they need information about what your company can offer them in the long run. This includes promotions, personal development, progression, training and mentorship. If you’re not discussing these things in your interviews with them, they may get the impression that this is not what you have in mind for them, causing them to drop off.

Ask candidates why they want to work for you and tell them what you can offer them. Remember that the recruitment process is a chance for a candidate and hiring manager to get to know one another and establish whether they are the right fit for one another. The right candidate should see a long future with you, and as a hiring manager, it is your job to help provide it.