By Neal Glatt

I don’t need to tell you how difficult it has been to hire candidates recently, especially if you’re trying to scale winter operations and recruit seasonal snow workers.  And I already told you why unemployment money wasn’t the problem.  This article is about what you really want to know: how in the world to stop getting ghosted by job candidates.  Read on to find out our top three tips and learn about our FREE new course on recruiting!

Tip 1: Make It Easy to Apply

Many job candidates give up before they even get to a job application because they’re just too cumbersome.  Recently I evaluated the experience of applying for a job at a larger landscape company and had to click through four pages just to get to an application that would take more than 15 minutes to fill out.  In today’s world, that’s too much work for job seekers who can get a job by walking into a coffee shop or gas station.

By working to shorten applications, creating mobile-friendly web forms, and even allowing candidates to apply via text message, companies can make it so much easier to apply for jobs.  The easier it is, the more likely that candidates will engage in the process.  If you need help with the technology for this, read to the end of this article for our suggestion.

Tip 2: Respond Faster

“If we’re being honest, you probably won’t hear back from us for about four days if you actually submitted an application right now,” is what I was recently told by a landscape company.  And I appreciate the honesty because I think that most companies have a hard time connecting with candidates fast enough.  Even when a manager can quickly call someone back after submitting an application, they usually get a voicemail and then are ghosted by the candidate.

The best case scenario is to respond to applications in one hour with a personalized message.  Rather than a phone call from an unknown number that most people will ignore, try using text for the best results (see Tip 3 for why).  Of course, this can be nearly impossible to do at scale without having technology to automate the process, but fortunately it does exist.

Tip 3: Leverage Text Message

The best way to avoid being ghosted is to engage as soon as an applicant expresses interest.  But we need to do it in a way that makes sense for candidates today.  More and more, text messages are the preferred way to communicate.  In fact, 99% of text messages are read and 97% within 15 minutes of sending.

Most people won't want to text many candidates with their own number, so it's great to be able to use a company number that can be managed from a web browser.  It's even better when conversations happen automatically through smart automation.

All of the technology I've described here is available from our friends at Team Engine.  What's more, they've been generous enough to offer GrowTheBench readers a demo and free trial of their platform!  If you hire consistently throughout the year and have 30 or more employees, you may want to check them out by signing up at this link.

Team Engine has also sponsored a new course on recruiting here on GrowTheBench!  You can learn more details about these tips and more ways to better attract, screen, hire, and engage employees by watching the course here.

We're committed to providing solutions that work to level up your workforce and help your business thrive.  Once you've hired your staff, make sure to enroll them in our courses for onboarding, snow operations, sales, management, and more to keep them growing and developing to the next level.  And don't forget to tell us how it's going and how we can help further.