Think you understand job seeker Personas? What responses do you think you might get when you put forward the same ‘five-years into the future’ scenario for a person just starting, and a person who has had a decade of experience but in a different arena?
Now, exactly how much do you understand job seekers?
The job market scales seem unequal when it comes to comparing candidate numbers with vacant positions across companies. But there is no one way to quantify this, and there is also a lack of understanding of recruitment metrics that might help translate this into layman's stats.
However, it is safe to say that if we worked on a list of everything that helps keep situations vacant, ghosting is bound to be in the top five bullet points.
Did you know that more than 62% of job seekers say that they would ghost a potential employer?
Now, there can be diverse reasons leading to this, but one thing certain is that job seeker ghosting is steadily on the rise.
With multiple screening rounds and ‘get-back-to-yous’, it can get terribly time and energy-consuming, so it is not surprising that even recruiters are exhausted of getting left alone in the loop by potential candidates.
Ghosting Is Plaguing The Job Market; Is Jobseeker Personas A Panacea?
About 79% of the current job seekers' population comprising both Gen Z and millennials have engaged in ghosting their probable employers in the past year.
This isn’t just an indicator of the job market imbalance, it is a statement in the current times where individuals refuse to solely focus on the company’s biddings or terms, but largely on their own professional trajectory and mental health.
A good number of companies still do not offer the proper environment, security, or perks when they hire candidates. This translates as a major professional turn-off to job seekers, who also look for diversity and inclusivity while applying to well-reputed companies.
Take a scenario of a person with Dyslexia applying for a secretarial post. There will be instances where they might have to take handwritten notes. If, despite the knowledge of their situation, there is discrimination against this individual, then the organization isn’t a safe or inclusive place for everyone anymore.
Some candidates understand this from the vibes in the screening processes and tone being used in interview rooms. So guess what this person will resort to, despite a good monthly paycheck? That’s right, ghosting.
There are multiple challenges that come with candidate ghosting, and the probable actions that are taken afterwards often seem like a half hearted repetitive task. These may include:
- Attempts to reach out to the job seeker to persuade them to take up the offer
- Rebounding to candidates that were on the backburner (when the previous attempt goes unanswered)
- Fresh searches (this usually happens in case of passive candidates)
If none of this works, the recruiting team then would need to make some internal changes. These might include:
Design changes in employee acquisition
This will comprise a 180 degree change in the process of approaching potential candidates, changes in platforms used, changes in job seeker- recruiter discussions, and more.
Probable changes in profiling job seekers:
Now we’re talking. While recruiter understanding of candidate profiles is extremely important and can lead to hirings, a better understanding of jobseeker personas can guarantee lesser worry about getting ghosted, and a smoother overall hiring process.
It is likely impossible that recruiters can find one solution to not being ghosted by potential employees, but understanding the personas of job seekers in today’s market can be a great way to avoid running the entire show in a loop without an absolute climax.
Why Do You Need To Pay Attention To Job Seekers’ Personas?
Recruiters usually think that they have the upper hand when it comes to hiring processes. Let’s just say that two can play that game now. If you think you possibly understand the psychography of most job seekers, you might be in for a surprise, and not the chocolate candy kind.
After being involved in the recruitment process a few times, you might have profiled a job seeker to ultimately take up the reins of a position, and yet been proven wrong when the time-to-hire (TTH) soars in the red.
The bottomline?
Candidate profiling and categorizing isn’t enough to determine if a potential candidate wouldn’t ghost your organization.
However, understanding jobseeker personas can get you a few steps ahead in the recruitment process.
But what’s jobseeker personas?
For this article, we’ll define job seeker persona(s) as a blend of the individuals’ professional mindset coupled with personal work satisfaction and how they assess the company’s contribution to their skill or career trajectory.
Steep line to walk, even metaphorically.
But understanding this can positively enable you to better your recruitment KPIs, by cutting down on cost, time whilst elevating the quality of hire(s). While situations like ghosting are usually random and cannot be pre-determined, understanding your job seekers’ personas might just help to deal with it more effectively.
And despite your best efforts even if you get ghosted by a few, hey, your efforts would yield better time-to-hire, cost-per-hire, and quality-of-hires, would it not?
Know Your Candidates’, aka Jobseeker Personas To Minimize Ghosting Incidents
If you’re thinking that just profiling the candidate according to general quantifiable metrics is enough for recruitment, your boat is gonna catch fire before it ever sets afloat. The eager graduates aren’t the only ones you encounter while on a hiring spree. No matter if you are high-volume recruiting, aka bulk hiring or not, you’re bound to come across job seekers that leave you boggled- hopefully for the best.
But then if you’re boggled, how do you steer the hiring towards your company’s best interests?
The trick to understanding job seekers’ personas is to give you an extra card in your deck, eventually helping you to up the ante and collect the final win. Think of it as a subtle study, but for professional gains.
Here are a few types of job seeker personas that you might come across:
The Time Bound Candidate Leveraging Different Platforms
This type of jobseeker personas knows exactly where to find a befitting job role— where their skills and experiences exactly overlaps with that in the job description, is someone who usually has a specific target/motivation set to their job findings.
Their driving factor could be a better salary, a diverse and/or inclusive team, a different learning curve, or simply a position in a reputed company.
How do you leverage your understanding of their persona in an interview call?
These people definitely love the feeling of being in control, anticipating how the things would pan out, and prefer a less stressful environments for decision making- which means the more you play into their strings, the lesser your chances of being ghosted.
Do’s: Be upfront and transparent about everything- especially about the specific role and the responsibilities that entail it, including why the position is created or why it was vacant.
Don’ts: Do not try to lead the hiring progression with them, don’t force promote the perks, or don’t try to desperately bribe them with incentives. Desperation is something that will tick them off, even if they are on a job hunting deadline themselves. Probably, they have already done their research. All you have to do is answer their doubts.
People Limited To Their Umm, Platforms
Let’s say you’re looking to hire a game developer; sure you can find game developers on many networking platforms.
But where would the best game developers be? On a subreddit answering a question about interactive graphics in their game, a discord channel asking someone to review their game designs, or on LinkedIn writing a post about how Flutter is one of the best frameworks to ever exist?
You get the gist. When you want the best people, the expression “living under a rock” cannot be used against jobseekers. However, you can definitely rap your knuckles against the rock a couple of times and present them with an offer. There are greater chances you may be ghosted, but there’s an equally thrilling chance of getting one of the best game devs for your company.
Do’s: Jobseekers who fall into this persona, often, are influenced by innovation or creativity coefficient of an organization when they are considering a job role. Such people often love solving challenges. So, pitch to them what drives them…something, that makes them say “I’m game for it.”
Don’ts: While these people definitely love challenges and the satisfaction that comes with it, you cannot use it as the only proposition, you still need to market your culture and a good pay. Else, it would all be in vain.
The Freelancer Or A Contract Worker You Want On A Tightrope
Freelancers too, to an extent, fall under the ‘jobseeker’ label. They are notorious for making corporate designations look lazy from time to time- with the budgets they offer, the turnaround time and lack of incentive expectations. With freelancers, there is a lot of give and take involved.
Say you interview a freelancer well versed in the hardware aspects of electronic devices to churn out strategically informative content for your company’s hardware products, you need to trust them with deadlines as well as your company’s integrity.
The advantage of working with seasoned freelancers is miniscule chances of them ghosting, but your understanding of that particular freelancer you want can turn the odds in your favor.
Do’s: Compensate them well, and set realistic deadlines only after discussing the entire project with them. Draw up a contract.
Don’ts: Micromanage. If you ever get ghosted by a freelancer because of micromanagement, this might be on you.
The Passive Candidate Who Can Turnaround Startups
In life, as a recruiter, you will often come across job seekers who give you a complex. They have multiple years on you, a CTC you might deem unreal, and a skill set your startup is thirsting over. These candidates are often comfortable with their position, and are usually not in active need of a job (Say ‘Hi’ to passive candidates). But they have got the quintessential experience that can turnaround your business, for good.
How do you rope-in such talent?
Decode their magnanimous persona. And then deal smartly with them? Know what they seek? Growth, title/position, and control.
Remember that scene from Jobs movie, wherein Steve Jobs recruited the Pepsi guy John Sculley? John was reluctant to leave his cushioned role at Pepsi, yet Jobs convinced him to take up the thorny role at Apple. He knew where exactly to hit the nail!
Do’s: They understand the stakes very well, make sure you present all edges of the offer very carefully, and draw clarity on what it is at your startup that is positively different from anything they’ve ever experienced. At the same time, make sure that they feel respected and utmostly valued.
Even if the ball lies in their park, ultimately it can be you who can nudge them to take that shot.
Don’t: Do not drop the entire spotlight on them at once, and do not hurry them along. Great things take time.
The Jump-Shipping Lone Wolf
One thing about lone wolves with a great skillset is that they exhibit the best of their strengths when alone. These people do not gel well with differences in strategising or execution while working in teams, and tend to burn out quickly because of this, and often end up quitting or jumping ships.
The challenge with lone wolves? Holding them down.
But if you try to understand their needs at work i.e., genuinely seek to know what sort of environment and challenges would best suit them, and engage in discussions during the recruitment process itself to find a common ground where both that individual’s and the organizations can coexist, they can become one of the best weapons in your arsenal if you succeed at it.
Do’s: Present a safe and sound workspace, with great flexibility, independence, and supportive workculture, where both team players and lone wolves have good professional recognition and freedom to work on what excites them.
Don’ts: Never present the workspace as a competition. This will only put them off further, and we do not want to be ghosted, do we?
The Corporate Phoenixes
This comprises largely of women who previously took a break from the corporate realm, usually due to maternity or childcare, and are now re-entering the workforce. What do you need to understand about female job seekers re-entering the workforce?
Such people want to be valued equally and helped with their reentry into corporate- especially with the current market. A good male to female ratio in the workspace is also a great indicator of DE&I in the company. A small whiff of unequal treatment or any past grievances can tick them off, eventually leading to ghosting the recruiter.
Do’s: Make sure to hear them and see value in their past records, and what they have to offer. Ensure that the workspace is diverse, inclusive and consists of no professional biases.
Don’ts: Do not make them feel devalued for a gap in their resume, or hint at a workspace that focuses more on workplace competitiveness more than professional inclusivity.
End Note
Jobseeker ghosting is one among many reasons that corporate positions take more time to fill. Recruiters focus a lot on ‘filling the position’ while ignoring many different aspects, like candidate expectations beyond the paycheck, and DE&I related numbers within the company.
Ultimately, this overlook becomes the reason that candidates ghost the recruiters.
At first, understanding job seeker personas may not seem as effective in the grand scheme of things, but it can certainly help you adjust and hyperpersonalize your approach to recruiting each of the jobseeker personas.
Thus, may help reduce the recruitment time, improve candidate interactions to interviews, hiring, onboarding, and retention HR metrics. If you found this insight helpful, subscribe to Skima Blogs.
