A recent post on a CIPD community forum posed a question about the practice of acknowledging job applications from candidates.
This post received wide interest with over 830 views and 23 different responses. The majority of these were of the opinion that not responding to applications was simply ‘the way things are these days.’
HR Aspects Magazine spoke with Chris Keeling managing director of e-recruitment and applicant tracking software solution, Jobtrain. He told us his view on this. “CIPD champions the world of HR management in the UK. This is the professional body that sets standards and awards qualifications for those in the HR community.
“The responses from this post are surprising and a tad depressing as there is a whole raft of people out there in the world of HR who still don’t believe there is a value in managing the most basic elements of a process. In not responding to applicants, this sends out a very poor message to people about a company. It also shows an apparent lack of understanding and empathy for those people who are seeking work and spend hours filling in application forms only to sit and wait in hope – and who hear nothing,” continued Chris.
How do you respond to applicants?
One way to make sure that companies manage responses more effectively and with more consideration is via an applicant tracking solution. These systems have the functionality to respond to applicants in a quick and simple manner.
“Any applicant tracking system should be able to respond to applicants at a relatively modest cost. Users can set up an auto-acknowledgement for candidates who have applied and once the decision is made that the applicant is inappropriate for the role, users can simply send a polite rejection en masse by changing their status on a system,” continued Chris.
“These actions take just a few minutes to complete – yet think of the change it would have on the way people perceive a business – responsive, considerate and efficient. Not only that – but emails cost nothing and the speed of the process saves a huge amount of administration time. A win/win surely?” said Chris.
Next time you advertise a job, will you take a second to think how you plan to communicate with the applicants? One day you could be on the other side of the fence.
Jobtrain is an e-recruitment and applicant tracking system software specialist. For more information, contact Jobtrain via Tel: 01565 818234 or E-Mail: enquiries@jobtrain.co.uk
