Part 3 of 4: Eliminate Barriers
In a world where the average applicant spends only 40 seconds reading a job posting before they decide to apply, the competition to attract the best talent is getting more intense. Some care organizations have mastered the delicate art of capturing attention with a job posting and converting it into an application. These agencies understand that just as quickly as you’ve garnered a candidate’s attention, you will see it wander away if your hiring funnel isn’t frictionless.
Are you looking to make your hiring process like these agencies? If so, you’ve come to the right place.
It is basic human psychology that the more difficult a task is to complete, the less likely someone is to complete it. Adding requirements for a caregiver to create an online profile or upload an updated resume creates a significant drop-off in the hiring funnel. In fact, recent studies show that 60% of candidates give up on an application due to complexity.
Your thought process should be “what is the minimum amount of information I need from a candidate to move them to the next stage of the hiring process?” For example, if you need someone who can drive, ask a screener question. Don’t ask for an upload of their driver’s license (you can always do that later).
The agencies that experience the most success with recruitment are the ones with the least amount of friction in their application process. Here is a good test: if it takes longer than 2 minutes to apply to your job you need to simplify your process.
Tip 1: Delay the Documents
There’s no doubt that hiring a new candidate entails a lot of paperwork. In the current job market for care workers, asking for paper work early in the process is a sure-fire way to limit your candidates.
Recent studies indicate that more than 70% of all job seekers report their behavior as passive job seeking. By requiring documents too early in the process, you miss out on qualified candidates who are passive job seekers. Although document collection is important, it can wait until you’ve screened the candidate and know you are both a good fit for each other.
Tip 2: Avoid the resume trap
When it comes to care workers, agencies often report that some of their strongest candidates are on average 50 years of age and older. Strong candidates like these are the most likely to feel overwhelmed by complicated data collection processes. By requiring resumes, you risk losing the strongest candidates.
Other candidates may not have an updated resume or they might be applying on the phone without access to one. Each of these situations is a missed opportunity. So when you’re crafting your next job posting, consider removing a mandatory CV/Resume component. Remember, you're in the business of building the path of least resistance for great candidates and then trusting your hiring team to identify the ones that are best.
Key Takeaways
Many factors contribute to the health of an agency's hiring funnel. The more difficult it is to apply to your agency, the less likely you are to attract top candidates. Great care workers can get a job almost anywhere. You want to make it as easy as possible for them to choose you. When designing your hiring process:
Only ask for documents when you really need them. Remember the ideal candidate may be reading your job posting for less than 40 seconds.
Apply the two-minute rule; if it takes longer than two minutes to apply to your job posting, you may find as high as 60% of candidates are driven away from applying.
Avoid the resume trap. Many great candidates do not have an up-to-date resume. Do not make resumes mandatory to apply.
At each step of the hiring process, your job is to collect the absolute minimum required from candidates. Collect just enough to know whether to move a candidate forward or not. This will ensure you are maximizing conversion. A frictionless process is both the simplest process and most successful process.
At Caribou, we know these tactics work because we have seen them generate a real impact with our customers across the United States and Canada.
We work with agencies to supercharge their recruitment and retention with a simple and powerful rewards program designed for home care. If you are looking to improve your recruitment and retention or have a question about these tips, we would love to hear from you. You can send us a note at contact@caribou.care or book a quick chat here: book a meeting.