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5 Reasons Why Job Seekers Are Not Responding To Your Online Applications

February 8th, 2021 | Posted by ATS in Benefit Accruals | Careers | Fingerprint Time And Attendance Canada | Fingerprint Time And Attendance Toronto | HR | Recruitment Software | Talent Management | Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software | Time and Attendance Canada | Time and Attendance Toronto - (Comments Off on 5 Reasons Why Job Seekers Are Not Responding To Your Online Applications)

Sometimes a frustrating online application process can scare off good talent. For example, if it is too difficult or confusing, jobseekers will simply not apply. Even worse, they may develop a negative view of your company and share their bad impression with others. While a statement like, ‘we are an equal opportunity employer’ sends out a positive message, asking prospective candidates to list their ancestry, (in an online application) is tantamount— to landing your company in, proverbial hot-water. 

The job descriptions you post are, in all likelihood, the first point of contact you’ll have with potential candidates. Use this opportunity to inform, intrigue, and entice candidates to submit an application—but also make sure candidates really want to work for your company.

Top 10 Mistakes Employers Make in Job Applications, is an article by Jennifer R. Cotner, for SHRM. Here are some excerpts from that article below:

  1. Asking for a photograph. Guidance from the EEOC prohibits employers from asking applicants for photographs. If needed for identification purposes, an employer may obtain a photograph of an applicant after the applicant accepts an offer of employment.
  2. Including any disability-related or medical questions. Employers should steer clear of questions related to whether an employee is disabled or has a medical condition. Any such inquiry would violate guidance from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and possibly the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and similar state laws. If an employer asks an applicant such a question, the EEOC or a court may presume prohibited information was a factor in hiring.
  3. Not including a non-discrimination statement. Employers may want to inform applicants that the company is an equal opportunity employer (i.e., through an EEO statement) and does not discriminate in hiring based on federally-protected classifications (i.e., race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, sex, disability, veteran status, age [40 or over], or genetic information). Employers may want to add any additional protected classifications under state or local law (e.g., sexual orientations or marital status).
  4. Including any disability-related or medical questions. Employers should steer clear of questions related to whether an employee is disabled or has a medical condition. Any such inquiry would violate guidance from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and possibly the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and similar state laws. If an employer asks an applicant such a question, the EEOC or a court may presume prohibited information was a factor in hiring.
  5. Asking about marital or familial status. Asking questions about an applicant’s marital status, the number of kids he or she has, the ages of his or her children or dependents, or provisions for childcare could be construed as discrimination on the basis of sex. Furthermore, in many states, marital or familial status is a protected classification about which employers may not inquire during the application process—similar to the federally-protected classifications listed above.

Bottomline: Employment standards and Human rights laws across Canada and the United States are in place to prevent many of the issues mentioned above. Employers should take time to create an appealing job application process that invites, rather that chases away, top talent.

To learn about ATS and our Cloud HCM application go to our website. And, to reach us by phone; call 866.294.2467

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A Bad Hire Can Be Costly, Here Are Some Tips That Can Help You Avoid This

October 10th, 2018 | Posted by ATS in Career | HR | Recruitment | Talent Management | Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software - (Comments Off on A Bad Hire Can Be Costly, Here Are Some Tips That Can Help You Avoid This)

No HR professional or company executive wants to hire the wrong person yet every company has done exactly that at one point or another. And if your company is a very successful one do you have time to use the proper metrics to help you avoid the costly mistake of a bad hire?

A Bad Hire Can Be Costly, Here Are Some Tips That Can Help You Avoid This

In her article 3 Common Hiring Mistakes New Managers Should Avoid for the Harvard Business Review Whitney Johnson offers some solid tips on how companies can avoid bad hires. They include:

“If only I could clone myself.” Lauren Rivera, a researcher from Northwestern, told me via email, “what most people are looking for is ‘me.’” Her studies concluded that “interviewers who lacked systematic measures of what their company was looking for tended to fall back on themselves and defining merit in “their own image,” meaning that the most qualified interviewees were those who best resembled their interviewers.” It’s easy to want to make this kind of hire — a carbon copy of yourself. But they will be bored and frustrated quickly because there’s no headroom for them to grow and advance. You already have you and don’t need another you.

“If only I could find someone to do all the annoying stuff that I don’t want to do.” This impulse, while understandable, is an even more dangerous one. Sure, it is tempting to avoid the responsibilities you find tedious or challenging. But you’ll have trouble attracting talented people to a job that’s mostly boring work. If you want to off-load everything that you detest doing, mostly junk work, it’s likely you’ll disrespect the person you’ve hired to be your dumping ground (a sentiment they will be inclined to return).

“If only I knew how to do that.” There may be tasks that demand attention but you don’t personally have the expertise to complete them. You value this skill in other people, and it’s what you’re looking for in a new hire. But there can be a couple of pitfalls with thinking this way. Sometimes, there’s an undercurrent of envy — you may feel threatened because they have talents you lack. Or you may put them on a pedestal — we do this all the time when we say we want to hire a “unicorn” or a “ninja.” Either way, you risk overpaying financially — and emotionally. Not only that, if you don’t understand the work they are doing, you may not have a clear sense of what path this person needs to be on to maximize their talent and overall productivity.

Bottom-line-every company will or have had an occasional bad hire or two, the trick is to make sure it’s not a consistent pattern.

Keep current with ATS:

To learn more, register for one of our weekly webinars, or download brochures or a demonstration. And, to speak to a representative, call; 866.294.2468.

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Are There Any Benefits To Having A Diverse Workforce?

November 6th, 2014 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Cloud Time and Attendance | Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software | Web-Based Time and Attendance Software - (Comments Off on Are There Any Benefits To Having A Diverse Workforce?)

In the last several years the online chat rooms and various media outlets have been discussing, at length, workforce diversification and the uphill battle millennials face in trying to find jobs after graduation. CIO.com staff writer, Sharon Florentine penned a compelling article titled “6 Ways to Attract and Retain Female IT Talent”.  It reads, in part,

“Women are good for business. While there’s no magic formula businesses can use to shrink the (still abysmal) gender gap in technology, there are some concrete steps you can take to recruit, hire and retain female tech talent.

Over the last decade, research has shown that companies’ bottom lines benefit when they actively recruit, develop and advance women. Studies demonstrate that enterprises that strive to include women are better able to attract and retain talent, reduce turnover costs, enhance organizational performance and build a robust leadership pipeline.”

Are There Any Benefits To Having A Diverse Workforce?

Today’s workforce culture is also experiencing a generational shift in attitudes as many of today’s businesses are grappling with how to handle tomorrow’s leaders in the workforce-the Millennials. An excerpt based on a recent report by Bentley University on Millennials in the Workplace states that;

“The Millennial generation is better educated and more diverse than any other generation in U.S. history. However, the various economic crises they have experienced as young adults have led them to question the effort and sacrifices they have made to get where they are, and to wonder about the best career path for the future. Forced early in their careers to recognize that hard work and a good education do not necessarily lead to job security, members of this well-educated group say that their family responsibilities and personal aspirations will take precedence over their professional goals.

Family and personal authenticity are key aspects of this cohort’s identity and they are frustrated with companies and corporate structures that are not evolving to allow them to live up to their aspirations. Seventy-six percent (76%) of the women and 73 percent of the men see themselves as authentic. They are not willing to compromise their family and personal values.”

The bottom line; there is no denying the positive impact a diverse workforce, including millennials can have on a company.

Millennials In The Workforce

 

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