Today, we will review common applicant pooling challenges and their solutions.
With life comes challenges. Just like life, recruitment challenges could prevent companies from finding the most qualified candidates. One of the best ways to source candidates is to collect them from job boards, career sites, and networking events.
What Is Applicant Pooling?
An applicant pool is a valuable tool for a company recruitment team to draw from a database or pre-qualified candidates to immediately start the interview process when a vacancy opens up. Whether they sent an application to enter the pool or were sourced in another way, such as connecting with a recruiter during a networking event, they are now a part of the applicant pool.
The goal of an applicant pool is to have access to enough pre-qualified candidates to have a diverse array of individuals to choose from when a position opens up within the company. The more qualified candidates in which a company has access, the more likely they will discover a great candidate who can be a proponent for long-term success.
1. Low-Quality Applicants In the Pool
An applicant pool for recruitment is important to maintain to instantly draw from it to quickly hire when a vacancy arises. However, when applicant pooling is generating subpar results, it’s best to reevaluate the quality of candidates within the pool itself. Hence, it’s best to regularly maintain the applicant pool by ensuring the candidates are of the utmost quality and meet the basic qualifications for one or more jobs within the company.
The Solution
Refine job descriptions to make them as clear and concise as possible. Specify what background qualifications you want potential candidates to have.
Do they need a college degree? Is a certain number of experience within the field required? What type of job skills will help them be successful in the position? Ensure to answer all these questions as you edit job descriptions. Plus, AI-driven pre-screening tools with predetermined criteria will help you to grab only the most qualified candidates from the application stage and move them into your applicant pool.
2. Inability To Find A Diverse Talent Pool
Applicant pooling challenges can also encompass lack of diversity within the candidates. Diversity in a talent pool is another tough issue to quell. A lack of diverse professionals from different backgrounds can limit a company’s access to creative solutions and varied perspectives within the team dynamic. This creates a domino effect where the company can fail due to limited success and innovation from not refining their daily workflows with updated ways of completing tasks.
McKinsey & Company published a report called “Diversity Wins: How Inclusion Matters”. The prompt states that three variables indicate that inclusion is a priority within a workplace which includes openness, belonging, and equality. Hence, diversifying your talent pools with individuals of different races, prior work experiences, and educational backgrounds will enhance the overall dynamic of an inclusive workplace.
The Solution
One of the best talent pool improvement tips is to expand recruitment efforts to underrepresented groups within the company. Connecting with job boards and career sites that specialize in diversity and inclusion can be a unique way to go about this improvement. Partnering with universities and colleges that promote diversity in the workforce can be another great angle to try.
3. Limited Candidate Engagement
Candidate engagement is the hallmark of successful hiring procedures. If the candidates are disengaged, they will likely drop out somewhere within the application and interview process. Hence, it’s best to keep communications open with candidates throughout recruitment procedures. Increasing applicant engagement is important for keeping candidates within the recruitment process and not dropping off to find other opportunities.
The Solution
Enhancing candidate engagement involves integrating a solid communication plan between recruiters and candidates. Utilizing texting solutions such as Cadient’s Text Notify can help recruiters remind candidates about upcoming interviews or other company events like webinars, hiring events, and appearances at community events.
Diversify your communication tactics with potential candidates. Answer their comments on social media when they ask about the application process. If they text back on the texting solutions platform with an applicant tracking system, try to respond within less than an hour if they answer during regular business hours.
4. Failure To Maintain A Robust Talent Pool
Work with overcoming talent shortages by taking measures to create robust talent pools as subcategories within the overall applicant pool. Even as hiring needs change for a company, they must continue to maintain an applicant pool of qualified candidates to draw from to immediately fill vacancies and keep operational efficiency going.
The Solution
Nurturing an applicant pipeline is essential for maintaining a refined talent pool. Keeping in touch with applicants who may be the right fit for future roles even if they do not qualify for current vacancies can be a great way to enhance candidate engagement and a strong talent pool.
Another one of the toughest applicant pooling challenges is maintaining management as hiring needs change. It’s best to review the current pool of applicants to ensure they still meet hiring requirements. For example, one of the positions within your company may have changed requirements to have a specific degree or a certain number of years of experience. If particular applicants do not meet these new qualifications, they should be removed from the pool.
5. Unclear Candidate Expectations
The organization’s expectations and potential candidates’ expectations should be aligned. Most times, they are unfortunately not aligned, which can cause issues. If the job requirements or benefits of working said job are not clearly defined in the job description, this can make high-quality candidates disgruntled during the application process.
The Solution
Communication relating to the roles and responsibilities of an open vacancy should be clear and transparent for the candidates to understand. Integrating information about work culture, career growth opportunities, and company benefits within the job description so the candidates know what to expect.
