Candidate Contact: How to Effectively Communicate with Talent

Candidate contact How to effectively communicate with

talent

Nick ClementChannel Director

@reedcouk

Where do candidates start their job search?

What do candidates expect when applying for jobs?

What’s really important in a job ad?

When does talent want to hear from you?

1960

1995

The UK’s#1 job site

Today

Where do candidates start their job search?

50%go to a job board

first

14%recruitment

11%

consultancy company website8% 7%

All the ways you’ve looked

1. Job site2. Company website3. = rec con and search engine

All the things candidates do to find a new job

Job sit

e

Compa

ny web

site

Recruit

ment a

gency

Searc

h eng

ine

Job Cen

tre Plu

s

Newspa

per

Frien

ds, co

ntacts

Profes

siona

l netw

ork

Socia

l netw

ork

Careers

Advice

Servi

ce

Trade

mag

azine

Other

But what about social?

42%

use professional networks in their job search

25%

use othersocial networksin their search

72% 29%

Following target employersApplying for jobsImproving profileTelling your network what you wantDirect messaging employers

What do candidates expectwhen applying for jobs?

1. Things to happen…quickly

2. Our disappointment…managed

expect confirmation of application

expect confirmation within 24 hours

only91%

73%

16%always receive confirmation

12%hardly ever or neverreceive confirmation

expect to be informed of an unsuccessful application

80%

NO CONTACTin 5 days in 14 days

assume they’ve been unsuccessful

22% 85%

How long?

week 1 week 2 week 3 week 4application

83%expect to be at

interview within a fortnight

71%expect to be offered a job within three

weeks

week 1 week 2 week 3 week 4application

85%expect to be at

interview within a fortnight

Retail, Marketing

week 1 week 2 week 3 week 4application

90%expect to be at

interview within a fortnight

Accountancy

What’s really important in a job ad?

What do candidates look for?

Graduate trainee accountant says working for PwC got in the way of social life in an email to colleagues about his “relief” at losing job

Is this the ultimate millennial sign-off? Sacked graduate bows out of job at top accountancy firm PwC with email complaining that the work was boring and got in the way of his fun

Moaning millennials let down their generation

1. Convenience to you

3. Salary & benefits2. Day-to-day responsibilities4. Career progression5. Learning & development6. Reputation & culture

Change one thing

communicationenforce feedback

speed of response

contact when it’s promisedhonest feedback

clarity on progress guaranteed feedback

2,800+UK workers

We asked

When you want to hear about vacancies?

How do you want to be contacted about new opportunities?

How often you want to hear about new opportunities?

When does talent want to hear from you?

Nearly everyone is open to hearing

of workers are interested in hearing about vacancies and talking to recruiters

about relevant vacancies

86.7%

Every time there is a

relevant op-portunity

Once a week Once a month Once every three

months      

57.3%20.0% 15.6% 6.5%

How often do you want to hear from recruiters?

265,46

0 CV uploads

75,974 Mobile app downloads

41.5%

46.2%12.3%

Phone

Face-to-face

Email

How do candidates prefer to makefirst contact?

8.6% Midday

Whilst I’m on lunch

When’s the best time to make contact?

15% In the evening

When I get home from work

When’s the best time to make contact?

62.9% I’m happy to be

contacted at any time

When’s the best time to make contact?

92.4% are happy to be contacted about new opportunities on

their day off

Even at the weekend…

The interview process

When candidates expect contact

17.2%

23.2%

55.4%

Once a week

Only after each interview stage

Everyday

1. Honesty

What do candidates value in your communications?

2. Professionalism 3. Information

1. Not hearing back

The biggest candidate frustrations:

2. Not hearing about the right roles

Understand where your candidates are searching and have a broad reach

Candidates expect timely responses & expectations managed

When advertising, remember to prioritise what candidates look for

Talent always wants to hear about relevant opportunities

Thank youNick ClementChannel Director

@reedcouk