Too Few Job Applicants? Explore the Reasons
There are many high-quality jobs that don’t get the level of interest from job seekers that they deserve when they are first advertised. There can be a wide variety of reasons why this may be the case. Some of the problems may be linked to the reputation of the company, some may be due to the substance of the advert and others may be down to where the job has been advertised and the ease of applying. We will look at each of these potential scenarios in turn.
Reasons for Not Getting Enough Job Applicants
Company Reputation
This is something that can have a disproportionate bearing on how many job applications are received and the quality of them. If the company has a reputation for only hiring young people, it is unlikely that people who are more experienced will want to waste their time applying. If it has a reputation for having an overwhelmingly male workforce, why should women spend their time on what they perceive to be a fruitless application.
If your company has a reputation for not paying very well, it may only attract people who have tried to find work everywhere else and failed. This means that the quality of the potential applicants won’t be at the level you are looking for.
It can take time to improve the reputation of a company, it isn’t simply a case of saying “under new management” and all of the problems are solved. It is a work in progress and can take several years of hard work to turn around.
If the company has a diversity problem, it can be difficult to attract your first members from more diverse backgrounds, as they will be scared of being seen as “token” hires. They will need to see a decisive action plan being implemented to make the company more attractive to their peers before they will be comfortable accepting a role.
Problems with the Advert
There can be many ways to mess up a job advert, from not giving enough detail about the role and the expectations attached to it, to not including the salary range on offer.
Always have multiple people check over the job advert and the job description in order to make sure that it is as detailed as possible without being over the top. One of the most common errors when writing a job description is to make it too short and not specific enough about what the job entails. This can lead to people not wanting to apply as they are not sure enough about what would be expected of them if they were successful in being offered the post.
If you have specified something like “suitable for a graduate”, this implies a lower rate of pay, and therefore more experienced people are unlikely to want to throw their hat in the ring for it. This can be a major error and it can artificially skew your demographic if this is routinely used on your job adverts.
One of the things that Generation Z, in particular, have very little patience with is being told that jobs have a “competitive” salary and then when they apply they find out it is 20% less than they are currently on. This has made many of them wary about any adverts that claim their salary is competitive. If it were so competitive, you would be shouting it from the rooftops, not waiting until the interview when you have a captive audience to tell the applicant.
Be sure to specify where the job will be based and whether it is hybrid, remote or office-based. Now, more than ever, this will have a bearing on the number of people who are willing to apply for it.
Remote-first roles are likely to see the stiffest competition as people can apply for them from much further afield, and they are also more inclusive for disabled people to apply for. Advertising a job that is fully remote will allow you to access a relatively untapped pool of talent that is held by the disabled and housebound people who are unable to physically attend a workplace.
Location of Advertising
Where jobs are advertised can make all the difference in the world to the success or failure of your efforts to find talented new employees. If you are still just advertising offline in local newspapers etc, be aware that this will only reach a certain population demographic. There are very few people in the younger generations who read the local newspapers these days, your best bet is to look online for advertising opportunities.
Many of the major jobs sites are an excellent place to start and require a bit of time and effort to set up, but once you have, they are well worth your while. They will generally allow you to set up a company profile page where you can tell potential applicants all about who you are and what you do. The best company profile pages have quotes from current staff and photos to accompany them that show a mix of youth and experience, and diversity where this is possible.
These job sites will likely charge you a fee to upload your advert but you can reach beyond the people who would normally see an advert on your Facebook page or website and get right into the heart of the job seeking community in your local area. You should set out your requirements for CVs and covering letters, whether they will be submitted through the site or should be sent straight to the email address of your choice.
Just be sure that you make it as easy as possible to apply, as even the smallest bump in the road can be enough to put considerable amounts of potential employees off from applying. Do basic checks like ensuring that the nominated email address is working and can receive the applications. Ensure they aren’t going into a spam mail folder. These things sound quite simple but it is amazing how many people fall foul of them.
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