4 Reasons Top Job Candidates Reject Your Job Offer

You’re doing everything right, or so you think, so why do the best candidates avoid your job offers as if they’re lima beans on a school lunch tray? Getting the best and brightest on board isn’t as cut and dried as it might appear. That can be true, even with terrific jobs, plenty of room for advancement and a spectacular benefits package.

The whole package, not just the benefits, is what many talented men and women look for. The best way to gauge that is to think like them. Here are 4 warning signs that can send the people you want to hire running in the opposite direction.

#1: Communication Standards Need Improvement

Communication is critical, and job candidates are increasingly savvy consumers. The product you’re selling is a job, but they won’t buy if the communication they get is unprofessional. And it should go without saying that rude communication is a universal turnoff, especially in an era when people aren’t desperate for work.

Poor communication is also at the heart of slow response time. When candidates are left to wait and wonder for an arbitrary amount of time they start to get impatient. After applying for a job, they might very well move on to greener pastures if they haven’t received so much as a confirmation that the application was received. A personalized response is even better.

RELATED: Put the Checkbook Away: Top 3 Perks Job Candidates Are Looking For

Using a communication service can really benefit HR teams that need a handle on their candidate communications. Implementing personalized and professional responses between employee and candidate can have a huge impact on your brand and how potential hires view your organization. This is why companies like VidCruiter offer customizable communications software. They help HR teams improve one of the most crucial aspects of recruitment.

#2: Employees Aren’t Happy

Employees give away what it’s really like to work for the company. If they’re happy, it’ll show. If they’re not, prospective employees will probably find out. Glassdoor reviews can be your best friend or worst foe.

High turnover rates, overworked employees, teams that don’t work well together and generally disgruntled people add up to bad employer advertising. Fortunately, that’s something you can change from within.

No candidate wakes up in the morning with the earnest hope of working for a company where nobody is happy. If your current workforce isn’t satisfied, it’s time to get busy, find out why and start improving the company climate and culture.

#3: You’re Looking in the Wrong Places

If you’re using the same old recruitment and job advertising strategy that’s been in place for years, chances are you’re not hitting the right market. If you’re not using mobile and social media, you’re behind the 8-ball. Hire Vue explains, “many more job seekers are using their mobile devices to look for jobs,” and “Facebook is job seekers’ mobile social media of choice.”

Targeted job postings are also important. Of course, you’ll find some applicants with an ordinary job posting. But a targeted approach means that the ads you post will be more likely to find the right niche of qualified people who will apply and accept a job offer.

That’s one of the biggest reasons why RealMatch candidate matching technology evolved. It helps eliminate the problem of mismatched job postings and candidates. And it helps you look in the right places automatically, which saves time.

#4: Confusion About Job Duties

Before anyone signs on for a job, it’s natural to want a clear picture of what it entails. The whole hiring team should be on the same page before a job is posted. Iron out the details, and then start the hiring process.

Madison.com warns job seekers that they should decline an offer if there’s conflicting or missing information. “Walking into a situation where different people give you different answers about job duties, or where there are no clear goals for you to work toward, can lead to a confusing and ultimately disastrous job situation,” they said.

There are exceptions, of course. Some jobs can’t be fully defined on the front end because they’re emerging roles. The company knows that it has a gap, but it needs a talented person on board to help define and fill it. In those cases, defining the required aptitudes, if not the entire role, can help. Candidate matching can help source talent with the right aptitudes as well as those with clearly defined skills.

Sourcing and hiring have changed faster in the past several years than it did throughout decades before. A big part of that is related to technology. It spills over into practically every step that a candidate goes through before accepting a job offer. Candidates are savvy and they have choices, so more people can and do skip over a job situation that doesn’t seem terrific.

If the job and bennies are good but you can’t get anyone to take a bite, it’s time to find that weak link in the process and fix it.

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