The 3 Reasons Great Candidates Don’t Apply (and How to Fix It)

This post was updated in June 2019.

In an era dominated by technology, people’s attention spans are only getting shorter — the average attention span today is only 8.25 seconds, nearly four seconds shorter than 15 years ago. Simply put, people are busy and expect to find information quickly and easily. The job search process is no different, meaning employers need to have application processes that engage job seekers every step of the way. In the talent-driven economy, the most in-demand candidates have many job options and most likely won’t take the time to complete a poor application process.

So how can you ensure the most talented candidates complete your application? Here are three reasons your application process may be leaving great candidates behind, and what you can do to make the experience easier and more accessible for prospective hires.

1. Your job descriptions are too short or lack detail

An enticing job title and description are crucial to attract great candidates. The most successful ones act as the hook for candidates to apply to your jobs.

When writing a job description, focus on the requirements of the role using a detailed description of the day-to-day experience and company culture. And the more detail, the better — job descriptions between 700 and 2,000 characters get 30% more applies on average.

2. Your application includes too many screener questions

42% of job seekers cite the lengthy applications as the most frustrating part of the application experience. While it’s tempting to have a lengthy application with a lot of screener questions to weed out unqualified applicants, we found that including 30 screener questions reduces applications by 50%, and over 45 questions reduces applicants by almost 90%.

Lengthy applications might eliminate poor candidates, but they take out the great ones as well. Removing excessive screener questions when possible reduces the complexity of your application process while improving the experience for job seekers.

3. Your application isn’t mobile friendly

54% of worldwide job search traffic on Indeed comes from mobile devices, but relatively few employers offer a mobile-friendly application process. Candidates may be able to find your job postings via mobile, but application processes that make it difficult to read a job description or apply from a mobile device risk losing these applicants altogether.

Additionally, 78% of job seekers would apply via mobile if it were more accessible, indicating that having a mobile-friendly application experience is essential to convert more people into potential applicants.

By enriching your job description and simplifying the steps to apply, your job posting will be optimized to receive even more applicants, including great candidates you may have missed otherwise.