Online recruitment best practice: responding to candidates

What happens when a candidate applies for your job can be crucial to the success of your online recruitment campaign.

The online recruitment experience

You have written your ad, posted it on your chosen job board, you've set up your screening questions and, at last, the candidate applications are beginning to come in. Your inbox is filling up and sometime later today you'll get around to going through them.

But something happens later in the day and you decide you'll look at all those applicants tomorrow. Something else happens tomorrow so you say that you'll definitely get around to dealing with them the following day. And the following day. And the following day. And all the while, the candidate is wondering what on earth happened to their application.

Sadly, you are not the only employer who doesn't get round to responding. Research conducted by the job board Totaljobs suggests that up to 73% of all job seekers' applications do not receive a response. This is a shocking statistic. If candidates were customers, and 73% of them got no answer to an enquiry, someone would get fired. But when it comes to recruitment, recruiters let it happen.

It's easy to shine when everybody else is covered in mud

Getting the basics right is so easy. All that is required to make yourself shine as a recruiter is give prompt response to the applicant. For example, when the application is received, set up an autoresponder that says something like:

Dear Applicant

We are currently processing your application and will be in contact with you in due course.

Best regards,

Your name

Yes, that really is it! If you send that initial email response, you will be distinguishing yourself from the vast majority of recruiters. When you do eventually get round to reviewing the candidates, and you have to give them the bad news, send them an email again. For example,

Dear Applicant,

Thank you for applying for the position of (job name).

Your application for the above position has been carefully assessed and I regret to inform you that you have been unsuccessful on this occasion.

I would like to thank you for your application and for the interest you have shown in (your company).

I wish you every success in your future career.

Again, with that simple email you have set yourself above most other recruiters.

Protect your recruitment brand

Online recruitment offers recruiters one of the most cost-effective and time-effective methods of recruiting. But it does require a little bit of effort. Offering a good candidate experience does take a little planning and preparation: but every recruiters can find the time to send some basic email. Besides, it's worth it. All the money in the world and all the brand strategy experts you can find will be unable to do more to enhance your recruitment brand (and your wider company brand) than the courteous act of responding to people who have made the effort to apply for your job.

Article Updated: September 2009

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