Simon Reichwald, Chief Progression Officer, Connectr explains why TA Leaders must shift from application volume to focus on candidate intent.
There’s no getting away from it. Application volumes for organisations are going up and show no signs of slowing down. According to research from High Fliers Research Limited applications fare up by 23% this year – a number that has doubled since 2023.
In addition to this, the ISE reports volumes have risen from 86 to 140 applications per vacancy in the last two years. Make no mistake – this is a having very real impact for employers in terms of costs, resources, candidate quality at later stages, and candidate experience.
At the heart of these increasingly unmanageable volumes is a weaker job market and candidates using AI within their job search and application.
At Connectr we have delved deeper, identifying four job hunting personas operating in the current market:
The ‘Casual’
This candidate has low intent and low curiosity about the role. They are speculative appliers, often simply browsing without the driving force behind them to commit. These candidates have a high likelihood to leave applications unfinished or ghost employers later on.
The ‘Optimiser’
This candidate has high intent to get a job – but not necessarily your job. They will use every tool at their disposal to maximise the volume of application they make and the speed at which they can make them. Thanks to AI tools, they can look really good in the early stages, but when you start interacting with them in person, their weakness and lack of connection to the role starts to show.
The ‘Explorer’
This person is super curious and will do lots of research but is not completely convinced enough to step out of their existing role. These candidates are likely to have just the behaviours and experience you want, but your employer brand, EVP and candidate experience needs to do the work to convert them.
The ‘Purpose Driven’
Finally this candidate is very focused on securing the right role for themselves, and will be values-led in their decision to choose you and apply. They are a responsive, proactive candidate. At the end of the day, you want lots of these in your recruitment pipeline.
How are employers responding to this?
Despite the trends, using AI to assess applications is still too fraught with risk for organisations to use these tools. Instead we are seeing practices such as:
- Closing for applications early: “sorry if you are someone who likes to consider and research before you apply”!
- Raising benchmarks on employment tests because these are largely a tool to reduce numbers. So more candidates are getting the message: “sorry if in behaviour and attitude you are a great fit!”
- Adding in extra steps or stages. These include costly second round interviews or time consuming video interviews used purely to reduce numbers. This time, it’s “sorry” to the recruiters behind the scenes who need to spend more time reviewing and assessing.
So, what can be done, that is both fair AND ensures you have the best suited candidates in your recruitment process?Our pre-application process (and there’s a difference already!) IntentSignals are significantly reducing volumes of poor fit candidates (by as much as 60%) and improving the conversion of those in process (by 2-4x).
It is about… being straight with potential candidates and empowering them to make decisions based on accurate and authentic information.”
By being ‘positively honest’ with potential candidates about the role they are considering or wanting to apply for, and encouraging self-reflection on the role, everyone can make a well informed self-select ‘in’ or ‘out’ decision – BEFORE they apply. If the role is not right for them, they don’t have to waste time applying and going through the recruitment process; and where the role is right for them their ‘intent’ grows and they ‘stay the course’ through your recruitment process.
The results from this earlier intervention are impressive:
- As much as a 60% reduction in poor fit candidates
- Those in the process are 3-4x more likely to progress to final stages
- 88% reduction in incomplete applications
- 36% reduction in withdrawals
- Record breaking video interview scores
- More top scoring candidates at final stage
Crucially, there has been no adverse impact on candidates when it comes to diversity.
Addressing the issue sooner
Addressing application volumes is not about interventions post application – at that point the horse has already bolted! Instead, the innovation is in addressing this issue pre-application. It is about being bold and not succumbing to vanity metrics (application volumes) but instead being straight with potential candidates and empowering them to make decisions based on accurate and authentic information.
And this approach does not just drive efficiencies in your talent acquisition, with great, well-suited hires, but also strengthens your employer brand.
Want to learn more? Contact simon@connectr.com
