The key to recruiting is to have a sufficient pool of quality candidates.  Potential candidates are discouraged from applying for positions, however, because of the additional work that is required by some companies to even get through the recruiting door.

To be clear, we are not talking about the programmer that wants to work for Google.  Ultimately, even if it took an hour to apply, candidates will make the effort to go to the “A” employers in their respective industry.   The candidate population that the recruiting hurdles impact are those that are less pre-committed to that particular employer.  To be fair, most of the systems take less than 5 minutes, but some estimate the time at 20 to 30 minutes. We need to seriously review whether recruiting convenience is superseding the goal or acquiring the best talent possible.

The irony is that I wrote the basics of this post 8 years ago, and the same issues exist today.  The problem has gotten worse with some employers requiring candidates to fill out diversity and ADA information, reference check forms and WOTC tax credit forms – the WOTC forms require the candidate to enter a social security number.  There is a solution – bifurcate the application process into two phases:

Application Phase 1: Resume Submission and basic contact information

Application Phase 2: Detailed profile and other information

During phase 1, Recruiting will review the resume to determine if there is a good chance that the candidate will be considered.  If the candidate is a good fit, they will receive an email thanking them for their submission, identifying them as a likely candidate, and asking them to complete more information to be considered.

At least one business leader or recruiting professional is going to say “Why should we waste the time?  If someone wants to work for us, they can spend the time up front and allow us to effective search the database.”  Here is my challenge – if that is the case, just stop advertising and list all positions just on your Company website – candidates will find you, right?  WRONG.  We need to generate as many candidates as possible.  Don’t let the volume of candidates that comes with the convenience of a quick email becoming a deterrent to finding the best candidates – come up with an alternative that will allow all candidates to easily navigate through the process – ask the best to put in the extra time.