When designing your application process, you may want to consider:
1. Do you absolutely need this information in order to shortlist candidates?
If the information is not fulfilling a legal requirement or isn’t essential to the role itself, then why is it being asked? I was asked on an application for my passport number and work permit number, which seemed a bit over the top. A simple “Do you have the right to work in the U.K. without employer sponsorship?” would have been sufficient.
2. If you accept a CV, then accept a CV.
If you allow an applicant to upload a CV, it is repetitive to then ask the applicant to fill in their education, professional qualifications and work history information in another section of the application. All of that can be found on the CV.
3. Save the interview questions for the interview.
Some short-answer questions can be helpful for you to understand the interest the candidate has in the role, but asking them to detail what skills and experience they possess compared to the job spec is a question best left to a phone or face-to-face interview.
4. Online assessments.
SHORT online assessments integrated into the application process can really provide some basic insight into targeted skill sets. There are some handy assessment tools out there that will integrate with your ATS. Otherwise, you may have the facility to create your own within your ATS. The emphasis should be on short, though. Applicants are oftentimes working full-time and perhaps have a family to look after, and if your application takes them more time than they are able to spend, you may lose a quality candidate.
5. Are you mobile?
With more and more people ditching their laptops and PCs for tablets and mobile devices, can your process cope? People expect to do just about everything on their mobile or tablet these days, including banking, booking a holiday and applying for a job. If your current process or ATS does not allow candidates to apply with their LinkedIn profile or upload a Google doc or Dropbox file, you might want to think about a new solution.
We are all getting increasingly busier with heavy workloads, long commutes, family commitments and outside-of-work activities. Is your recruitment process throwing up obstacles to quality candidates? With the battle for talent, can you afford to be putting skilled applicants off? Don’t make your process so long that you are losing people along the way.
Article by Michelle Bustos
Source (http://thehiringsite.careerbuilder.com/2016/04/13/how-long-is-too-long/)
