The recruitment process is perceived as one-sided. The candidate is in the hotseat. They need to put their best foot forward, exude experience, and project confidence.  Plus, they need to do it repeatedly in front of panels of co-workers, hiring managers, and the c-suite.

Job seekers are bombarded with tips, tricks, and advice about how to impress, have their resume seen, or avoid resume black holes.  Add this to the outside pressure to get a job and support yourself or family – and people are exhausted.

Plus, many companies continue to post record profits while laying off thousands of employees.  Whether the layoffs are warranted, related to the profits, or its much deeper – on the surface, there is a disconnect between job seekers and their confidence in the job market.

While employers may see hundreds or thousands of resumes roll in for a single position, the reality is the most applicants aren’t qualified.  And hiring the wrong person is expensive. The time to train and integrate someone into the team doesn’t come without costs. Plus, it can impact team morale when it doesn’t work out as planned.  The team loses time on business-critical projects and hiring managers must use their time again to start the process over.

Why should you care about job seeker confidence when their goal is to win your favor?

Employee engagement

An employee who is not engaged in their work, invested in the company, and ready to meet business challenges will ultimately bring down the team and projects.

When they apply into a black-hole resume portal or have a less than stellar interviewing process – they will continue to look for a new job once they are hired.

If they are watching the company layoff critical staff while posting record profits – they will continue to look for a new job. Moreover, if they’re picking up the layoff slack – they will look for a new job.

If morale is low from layoffs, menial pay, or bad culture – they will look for a new job.

A disengaged employee doesn’t happen after years of service or corporate shake ups. It can happen during the interview process as they schlep through interviews to take your job until something better comes along.

How do you restore confidence?

• Be open and direct with job applicants
• Be ready to verbalize what is happening at the organization and why
• Discuss why the job is open
• Show your excitement about the projects your team is working
• Show prospective applicants how they are the missing puzzle piece to the team or organization
• Have difficult conversations in-person or over the phone in lieu of texts of form-fill emails.
• Outline a clear recruitment process that specifies a timeline and expected steps
• Give applicants the opportunity to ask real questions and give genuine answers
• Respond in a timely manner
• Give applicants a reason to stop their job search

Despite perceived layoffs, the overall unemployment rate is still very low.  Job seekers still have options, even if they aren’t as plentiful or as lucrative as they were a year ago.  Give them a reason to say yes to your job because they want to, not because they have to take any job now.