It’s hard to imagine anyone considering not applying when you post a shiny new job role, but trust us, candidates can get over half way through the application and still decide to retreat. And it could be all your fault…
We’ve found that 60% of job seekers abandon applications due to complexity or length, and this might trigger the rhetoric of “if they can’t be bothered applying, we don’t want them anyway”. I regret to inform you that it’s not through lack of trying, but the seamless process of many job applications nowadays have candidates, rightfully, questioning whether a fussy and non-user friendly job application is truly worth their time.
We’re going to dig into how a seamless UX can improve your hiring process, boosting the number of job applications, and discover whether your hiring process is falling victim to outdated, complicated standards.
Why Does UX Matter in Hiring Platforms?
It’s not just about the candidate. Having an efficiently designed jobs board allows recruiters and hiring managers to properly evaluate the pool of talent. By building a format that clearly presents candidate information and highlights key data sets, hiring managers are able to move quicker through the process and find the right candidate.
Keeping the UX as simple as possible will boost engagement from potential candidates and increase the finish rate of open applications. It’s easy to feel excited by new tools and unique design elements in an attempt to impress candidates, but understand the risk of implementing them unnecessarily can cost you key talent.
How Poor UX Impacts Candidate Engagement
When launching your site to sell your products/services, it’s continuously monitored to offer the sleekest UX on the web. This commitment is often lost when it comes to job sites, even though the candidate’s UX is a direct reflection of your company. Poor design and functionality suggests the same about the working process.
Candidates have an expectation when they come to apply to a role that genuinely interests them, to be met with UX that hinders their time will inevitably raise questions about the competency of the department they’re applying to work for. Remember how much effort goes into an application, even those that require the bare minimum of a single resume upload, candidates will spend hours tinkering with the wording of each sentence. If this effort isn’t reciprocated through the application process, you’ll leave job seekers deflated and disengaged.
The Cost of Complex UX
If my words aren’t doing enough to stir up some talent drought fearmongering, here’s some stats to shake it into you. A staggering 93% of candidates say that unclear job descriptions lead to application abandonment. This isn’t just about the design of the site, but how you’re communicating with the candidate through copy too. Are you clearly telling the story of your company and the requirements of the role? If a candidate doesn’t understand what’s being asked of them, they cannot be expected to complete a detailed application.
Interestingly, 1 in 3 candidates won’t apply to a role if the career site isn’t mobile friendly. Gone are the days of job seekers craning their necks over desktop computers to perfect their application. A lot of people simply don’t have the time or resources, would you run the risk of applying to a new role on your existing company laptop? Mobile’s are a hub for life admin, making sure your job site runs smoothly for a mobile user is paramount in today’s recruitment climate.
The candidate experience doesn’t start and end with the hiring manager, it begins the moment they click onto your job advertisement, and 89% of job seekers admit to losing interest in an employer due to bad candidate experience. If you’re not prioritising UX throughout the application process, you’re signalling to the candidate that they’re not a priority, and this doesn’t bode well for their job satisfaction if they were to be successful in the hiring process. Imagine you’re a car salesman, a new customer comes bounding in full of energy and a generous budget, now you don’t take them to the scrap yard, you show them the shiniest, most expensive set of wheels you’ve got available. A job needs selling to the candidate as much as the candidate needs to sell themselves to you, the outcome is an investment for both parties.
Key UX Design Principles for Job Boards
When reviewing your careers site, here’s some tips to consider in the design process. Keep it simple, you want the application journey to be easy to understand with clear navigation tools for the candidate, don’t fall at the first hurdle. Secondly, as previously highlighted, value the importance of a mobile user-friendly site, you could lose your top contender if they’re not able to apply on their morning commute.
Accessibility is paramount, job roles shouldn’t exclude suitable candidates just because they have a disability. Be sure to carry features that give everyone a fair chance at applying.
Sometimes candidates will land on your job site without a clear view of the role they’re after, including features like job recommendations and user-specific experiences can create a personable relationship between you and the candidate, again showing how UX can improve your hiring process and the chance of the hiring manager finding the right fit for the role.
The hiring process can be lengthy, this is something most candidates are aware of. So keep them in the loop, offer real time updates and application monitoring, so they can see if they’re still being considered or whether they’ve been unsuccessful. It will reduce the influx of emails “just chasing up” their applications.
Make the process as sleek as possible, minimal load times and efficient search results, the less time the applicant needs to spend on the faffy parts of the process gives them more time to hone in on the tailored application questions.
Of course, the visual design of your jobs board is vitally important too. It’s a great way to begin building the candidate’s perception of the brand, a strategic layout and design can help to tell your story as well as make for a user-friendly guide to take them through the process.
For a clear example of how this can all come together, see how we’ve designed our jobs board.
Transforming Your Hiring Platform’s User Experience
We’ve established that candidate UX can improve your hiring process exponentially, it is a crucial component in the application process, and you’re at risk of losing top talent before they’ve even reached the start application button.
Crafting your careers site so it offers candidates a smooth and practical experience is time and money worth investing in. Remember this is likely the first impression of your company for many applicants, don’t leave them with a bad taste in their mouth and a half filled out form gathering dust in your data storage. CareerSix are pioneers in transforming candidate UX with the goal of attracting the right talent to your company. Show candidates that it’s a role worth applying to and get in touch today.
