Job shopping: applying for jobs as easily as buying shoes

Companies should really make the application process as easy for candidates as buying shoes, says Hans-Jürgen Benker, a recruiting solutions expert at Carerix. Job shopping instead of shoe shopping, so to speak. This applies particularly when it comes to approaching candidates directly, known as active sourcing.

The retail sector grasped the concept a long time ago: consumers want things to be as simple as possible in the online world and to purchase the product they desire with as few clicks as possible. For some time now, well-known online shopping portals have been offering apps that consumers can use to buy the products of their dreams at the mere touch of a finger.

Applying for jobs: far from as easy as buying shoes

Unfortunately, things are rather different in online recruiting. Here, when applying for jobs, candidates frequently have to struggle through boring online forms in order to submit their application documents. In the worst cases, these forms terminate automatically shortly before candidates can send them off, meaning that all the work was in vain.
Yet solutions such as one-click applications have been around for some time. With this, the touch of a finger is all that is needed to import the profile data from business networks such as LinkedIn and Xing into the application form. All that remains for the candidate to do is check the form and perhaps make some minor adjustments here and there. Then it is all done. As a result, applying for jobs takes less than three minutes. Moreover, one-click application is also a perfect solution for mobile applicants.

What could be easier when active sourcing…

Even when it comes to active sourcing, approaching candidates directly, companies make mistakes again and again. For example, they address candidates in impersonal, cryptic standard letters that bear only minimal, or indeed no, relation to the profile of the person being contacted. In cases of doubt, the talent is then forced to carry out online research to establish why he or she is the right person for the vacancy advertised.
“But honestly, who does that?”, asks Carerix expert Hans-Jürgen Benker. “The employment market has turned into an applicants’ market. This fact means that these days, candidates are the ones conducting the searches, while companies make the applications. Nowadays, candidates receiving up to 20 job offers a week no longer have to go to the trouble of researching why employers would be a suitable fit for them. Particularly not if they are in permanent positions, which is often the case with active sourcing.”
According to Benker, when it comes to approaching candidates directly, and in communication generally, companies must ensure that they make things as easy as possible for the talent. For example, this includes stating a precise reason why the company believes that the candidate could turn out to be perfect for the vacancy. Benker also offers many other practical tips for recruiters in the video interview. We hope you enjoy watching the interview: