July 2016

The internet has enabled candidates to search for Job Vacancies quickly and easily! Further, they can now apply with just a “Click of a Button”! Maybe it’s TOO EASY now……

So you’ve written a great Job Advertisement that will “attract” the “right candidates”. Unfortunately, most of the Job Seekers out there are LAZY!!! They fail to read the advertisement fully, and instead do a “blanket search”! Busily Clicking on the Apply Button with the assumption that “volume” is the best tactic for securing a new job!!!

Here are some STATISTICS on a recent position I filled. I advertised for a Receptionist/ Administration Assistant role:

• Over 400 applications applied through SEEK.com.
• Only 42 of those were a potential match for the job (lots of applications from Hairdressers & Hospitality workers with “ZERO” administration experience or qualifications).
• These candidates (the potential 42 out of 400) were then asked to answer some online questions as part of the selection process.
• Only 20 bothered to answer the online questions!!!
• 11 of 20 candidates were not considered for various reasons including salary expectation, commuting distance, poor spelling & grammar etc. Leaving NINE candidates, from a pool of 400.
• FIVE candidates were interviewed, and of these five:
  • One showed up wearing jeans, had a stud ring stabbed into her chest & a tattoo showing on her arm (Remember this is a front of house Receptionist role!!!).
  • One didn’t know what data entry was even though she had recently completed a TAFE course in Administration.
  • One cried during the interview (I didn’t think I was that tough on my candidates….).
  • One said “I done that” more than 20 times throughout the interview.
  • That left one!!!

Every Business Manager and Hiring Manager has demanding roles with never enough hours left in the day…… So how are you supposed to get through screening 400 applications!!!

My First Suggestion would of course to be to call kimacworth@recruitloop and pass that over to her 😉

But of course, if you like screening the Job Applications yourself, then I have some tips:

• Read your Job Advertisement and Position Description again.
• Make sure you know the “Must Haves” for the role you are trying to fill. Such as:
  • Particular Qualifications TAFE, Graduate degree, etc.
  • Particular Software knowledge/experience such as MYOB, AutoCad, Revit, Adobe Illustrator, etc.
  • Experience in Specific areas such as accounts payable, IT helpdesk, account management, etc.
• Open the Applicant’s Resume and quickly screen for those Must Haves!!! If they don’t have them, move onto the next Application.
• If the Applicant has the ‘Must Haves’, then look for:
  • Relevant industry experience,
  • Stable employment history, and
  • Where they live.
• If all the boxes checked, great!!! Open their Cover Letter and see what else they have to say.

Now this doesn’t mean that writing a great advertisement is a Waste of Time!!! You only need one Great Candidate for your Job Vacancy, and you want that Candidate to apply for the role.

Make sure you’re following on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/RecruitLoop-Kim-Acworth-185674054963527/?fref=ts) as I’ll share some other great tips and information.

Attracting high QUALITY CANDIDATES that SUIT the role you are trying to fill, starts with the ROLE TITLE!!! Job seekers enter specific keywords in the search bar on SEEK and other job search platforms, and will automatically be attracted to roles that resonates with the job they’re looking for.

An all too common mistake that I see – ‘Employers think they need to use the same ‘Role Title’ in the advertisement as the ‘Official’ Role Title used within the business’. YOU DON’T!!! The purpose of a Job Advertisement on SEEK, LinkedIn or specific industry sources – is to ATTRACT the RIGHT Candidates and to MOTIVATE them to APPLY for the role you are trying to fill. It is not meant to be a summarised version of the formal Position Description.  

Advertising a role with the ‘WRONG Role Title’ will have a negative effect on the quality of candidates applying…. i.e. they are LESS LIKELY to have the appropriate level of experience and skills that you need, and it REDUCES your ability to employ the RIGHT person for the role.

“For example, calling someone – Administration Manager when staff don’t report to the employee in that role is definitely exaggerating the level of the role. ‘Management’ roles are attributed to a high level of authority and responsibility. Hence, it attracts experienced people looking for a higher salary. Based on the job tasks and level of responsibility, a more appropriate Role Title might be – Office Administrator.”

Remember – “A Good Job Title is NOT about stroking an employee’s ego!!! It’s about finding the right person to fill the role.” In my previous blog – “Outlining the Role – Getting the Position Description Right” – I highlighted that a ‘good’ Job Title should:

• Accurately reflect the nature of the job and the duties required to be performed
• Reflect the rank order with the other roles in your business
• Not exaggerate the importance of the role
• Reflect the jobs in the industry with similar pay and responsibilities
• Be self-explanatory for attraction and recruitment purposes

So PLEASE employers – take the time to get this RIGHT!!!

If you are ‘afraid’ of advertising a role with a Role Title that is different from the existing staff because it might cause issues…. then it is likely that you have HR issues that need to be addressed. SOONER RATHER THAN LATER!!!

Make sure you’re following on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Acworth-Recruitment-185674054963527) as I’ll share some other great tips and information.