When it comes to securing top talent, the job market is highly competitive.
It is not enough to advertise a role and wait for an onslaught of applications anymore. As any recruiter will know, there is far more work involved. You should not simply accept that it’s a candidate’s world, and you’ll never be able to fill your jobs. It is vital to understand why candidates are failing to proceed with the role when you approach them and what you can do about it. Candidates will often not be particularly forthcoming when they reject offers, as they may not want to burn any bridges or insult the recruiters.
Aside from just being happy in their current job, these are some reasons why candidates may be rejecting your offers.
Poor Salary and Benefits
Candidates may reject the offer if they are not paying a competitive salary and/or benefits package. Many employers make the mistake of trying to get candidates for the lowest salary possible or without offering any additional benefits. It is the wrong approach, as all it will do is hold up the recruitment process, and even cost more in the long run. Candidates want to feel valued. They don’t want to feel that you are trying to get them for a bargain price. It is, therefore, important to undertake competitor research and ensure you are paying the same or more than your competitors.
Lack of Opportunities to Develop
Most people don’t just want to find a job for the short term, they want to know that there are opportunities to progress in the future. If you don’t mention this when you advertise your roles, or when you approach candidates about a job, you are missing out on an important opportunity to sell the job to them. Inform them about the role, but also consider the future and where they could end up in the company. For instance, if there is a clear structure in your company, make sure this is part of your ‘sales pitch.’ If you have invited them for an interview, always discuss the potential opportunities in the future. Otherwise, they may feel that they will be stuck in the same job for the foreseeable future if they join you.
Undesirable Location
Candidates may be put off by the location. It might be a long commute, or somewhere with a lack of transport links. It might be worth mentioning the travel options when you first approach them if the location is a bit obscure. If there is a lack of transport links, you might want to try and provide alternative options such as enrolling in the cycle to work scheme or offering car share.
Wrong Culture Fit
It may be the case that the culture is just the wrong fit for the candidate. Although there is not a lot you can do here, apart from changing the entire culture, you can try to emphasise the benefits. Try to counteract any seemingly negative aspects of the culture with something positive. Such as, our culture is to work hard and stay focused, but we have an early finish on a Friday. You might even want to consider making small tweaks to the culture by checking employee reviews on Glassdoor or other platforms.
Pushy Sales Pitch
Most candidates don’t like to be approached in a pushy manner. It comes across as desperate and makes them feel that they are just a number. Although it may be true that recruitment is a bit of a numbers game, your approach should always be gentle, don’t force-feed the job opportunities or it will be extremely off-putting.
Impersonal Approach
An impersonal approach is also uninviting to candidates. Make sure you find out a bit about them before you approach them. If they have applied to your position, take time to discuss their CV. If you have approached yourself, it is even more important to understand their credentials. Try to understand them and show an interest, that’s the only way they will be genuinely interested in joining your organisation.
Bad Reviews
Whether on the first approach or after an interview, most candidates will have a look at employee reviews before deciding whether to proceed. This is particularly important if they are already working, as they won’t want to jump from the frying pan into the fire. You should always keep an eye on employee reviews and make changes where possible. You’ll probably find that the same issues are raised time and time again.
Painful Recruitment Process
It may simply be the case that your recruitment process is painful. For instance, the application form takes too long to complete, the response after the application is slow or it takes weeks to get any feedback after an interview. When candidates are on the job market, they will usually be interviewing elsewhere. Therefore, if you like them and don’t snap them up, someone else will. Most recruiters are extremely busy, and through no fault of their own, the process can be painfully slow. Therefore, recruitment technology has become such an important part of the process. There is the choice of an ATS, which can be used to automate recruitment tasks, or a CRM to manage candidate relationships. Recruitment tech has a significant impact on the time to hire.
At Rectec we offer a completely free recruitment technology comparison service, to help you find the right ATS or CRM to suit your business needs.
A quick, responsive process is what you need to attract and engage the best talent.
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