My heart goes out to the thousands of job seekers these days. While the job portals seem to be full of promising job opportunities, I feel it is currently more difficult to find the right opportunity, not to mention these uncertain days of COVID-19. Last week, when I spoke to a good friend, he told me that the job search currently feels like sitting in front of Tinder or OKCupid when you search for a new partner. So many promising profiles but he is still single. I wanted to understand better why it is so difficult and why he feels that job seeking and partner searching seem so similar. The next day I sat down and looked at 161 different job descriptions in one single day. The result was shocking:
149 out of 161 job descriptions were totally similar in their structure, information and requirements and in 142 out of 161 job descriptions even the company descriptions sounded very much alike. Often during the day I lost track, didn't know if I had already gone over a specific offer or not. It was very difficult to keep a clear overview and this made it now somehow understandable for me why many applicants make little to zero effort to read the full description in detail and simply apply directly after getting the first impression.
However, if you break the industry norms and standards and be more creative, you will have better success and conduct a more effective search.
The next day I met my friend again and joined him as he surfed around in his dating application. I was very surprised to see that so many profiles resemble each other so strongly, and I realized my friend wasn’t reading the full profile but rather contacted the person immediately after the first impression. It was exactly the same as I felt when I was going over the job descriptions and I believe it naturally leads to a feeling of frustration on both sides. The applicant receives many demoralizing rejections while the recruiters have much more work and no understanding why so many unsuitable candidates apply. The question I’m asking is why is it like that? I truly believe that everyone I ask, both singles or companies (ie. their recruiters), will tell me that their profiles are absolutely unique and that they can immediately state at least 10 reasons why they are better than anyone else.
Here exactly lies both the problem and the solution! Seen on their own, all job descriptions are unique and attractive. However, in comparison to others, most look a lot the same and the attractiveness is quickly lost. If we want to have candidates we never had before, we need to start doing things we never did before. Here are 6 easy tips that can help every recruitment department attract the right applicants.
Make good use of the Cover Letter -
One of the strongest tools you can use in recruitment. Ask the candidate to tell you in a few sentences why they think they are the right candidate for you. What makes them special compared to other candidates. What kind of benefit does the company could have by hiring them and simply why they are applying for the position you published. This way you are getting a much better insight into how the candidate thinks, what drives them to apply for your position and what effort they are willing to make. You can also automatically check some basic criteria such as communication skills, how well the applicant knows to sell themselves, Are they creative or do they understand what is important to the company in this position.
Be Open to Unexpected Applicants -
Unexpected applicants can be the biggest win for your company, especially those who are quickly tagged as “over-qualified”. Call that person and find out why they are applying. Don't forget that even more senior managers sometimes reach the point where they want to downshift (for numerous reasons) and would often be more loyal to you than early career applicants. In addition, they have tremendous knowledge and experience that they bring to your organisation practically for free.
Don't State the Obvious -
Take the opportunity and describe what is really important in order to do the job well and what could be the challenges instead of using standard phrases. Let's be honest: Shouldn't everyone in sales be results-driven and goals-oriented? Be “a hunter and a closer”? Have excellent verbal and written communication skills? These are the basics, so why mention them? Use the job description to talk about what really matters and makes the needed requirements unique. I believe you never saw a car commercial where the manufacturer is bragging about the fact his car has 4 wheels, a round steering wheel, rear mirrors and safety seat belts.
Ask for Work Samples -
Describe a standard situation you are facing every day and let the candidate tell you in a few words how they would handle it. You can ask how they would follow up on an introduction call or how they would act when they scheduled a demo for a new prospect, starting in 10 minutes, but suddenly another client (who is close to closing a big deal) is requesting an urgent call within the next minutes. Give 1-2 questions that are simple to answer and mainly measure the candidate’s creativity and flexibility..
Avoid Contradictions -
Use requirements like creativity or the ability to “think outside the box”, only if your job description reflects this. How attractive would it be for a creative, out-of-the-box thinker when the entire job description is written within the industrial standards and norms, using “standard” sentences? If you want to recruit creative people, show your creativity in return.
Don't use the Same Templates -
Different positions have different expectations, therefore re-write the description and benefits according to the position at hand. For example, an SDR or Account Executive would consider very different things than a director or VP. Opportunities for promotions are very attractive for some, while others are interested in having a bigger say or influencing the further development of the company.
The moral of the story: If you do what everybody else is doing, you will get the results everybody else is getting. Too many applications from unsuitable candidates and much more work to find the best fit. However, if you break the industry norms and standards and be more creative, you will have better success and conduct a more effective search.
If you find my tips valuable but still don't know exactly how implementing them, I’m inviting you to write me an email and you will get a training session free of charge - how to take your specific challenge and form together a path to success. My email is: chris@forty-two.digital