3 Recruiting Challenges Still Haunting Us

I’m a Gen X’r slash xennial and grew up on scary movies. If I learned one thing, it’s, don’t go to summer camp, don’t fall asleep and definitely don’t trust clowns…ever.

But will all those rules in place, I still wouldn’t escape the apparition chasing me; it’s just the way it is.

Recruiting teams haven’t been able to escape some scary things too.

Fake applicants rising from the spam thereafter.

Candidate data that sits and decays in forgotten ATS corners.

Poor candidate experiences based on paper processes from the mid-1900s…shutter.

Recruiting is evolving and tech stacks have modernized. Yet these hauntings continue to drain time, budget and morale.

Like the heroine that gives Freddy the finger, let’s face these recruiting challenges before they can slow-walk their way into our lives again.

The rise of the fake/bot/spam applicant

The haunt: basic apply processes and job boards attract not just talent, but tricksters: bots, click-farmers, scrapers, fake candidates. Bad data has been streaming into your world for years.

The cost: Every fake applicant consumes recruiter time, drives up cost-per-applicant and pollutes your analytics. The worst part? They bury actual people under a pile of garbage.

How to exorcise this phantom:

• Use accurate source tracking and identify geo-mismatches to detect ineligible applications earlier in the funnel
• Use an application process that exposes SPAM IP/email/phone, bot activity and fishy behavior from the start
• Use AI insights to sniff out inconsistencies between collected sources (resumes, question answers) and externally found info (social profiles)

Fake applicants start at the entry into your ATS (the application layer) and wreak havoc downstream. Stopping as much as you can up front helps recruiters focus on signal, not noise.

The land of forgotten souls

The haunt: You’ve sourced, collected applications and put thousands of people into your ATS. Where they were once engaged, they’re now lost to time and space. With recruiting teams re-advertising roles instead of re-activating the goldmine they already own.

The cost: Paying again and again to attract people you’ve already met. You’ve got the treasure, you just need the map.

How to wake the dead:

• Build dynamic talent pools from existing ATS data and web traffic
• Automatically engage and re-discover candidates in your ATS with new, matching roles
• Segment by skills, locations and categories so outreach can feel more personalized – bonus if you enable candidates to tell you what they’re interested in and update their profiles

ATS’ are the secret potion. They are the differentiator your recruiting team holds and with the right automation, becomes your source of living, breathing hires.

Nevermore…

The haunt: Long, clunky application processes. Unclear job descriptions. No communication loops. It’s enough to make the strongest of candidates vanish into the night.

The cost: Talent that doesn’t trust you. Low application rates and damaged employer brand.

How to change the tune:

• Your apply process should be short, sweet and mobile-friendly. Align more with e-commerce than a paper application based in 1953.
• Not all applicants are equally qualified, so tapping AI to help assess and screen for fit not only helps recruiters, it helps candidates know where they stand
• Consistent engagement and communication does wonders and keeps the ghosting at bay

For some reason hiring thought candidates were different from regular consumers; they are not. Every touchpoint matters and is a foundational part of good manners and good marketing.

Bonus scene!

The haunt: Agencies spending thousands and thousands on job boards only to see quality drift and traffic and data going to the job board; not the brand.

The cost: I mean, Linkedin and Indeed make ~$7 Billion each on job ads. That’s you re-buying and them keeping the traffic and candidates you’re paying for, only to re-market to your competitors.

How to handle:

• Retarget and convert your own passive website visitors with dynamic pop-up job alerts and simple online applications
• Optimize your spend by understanding your sources that lead to applications and hires
• Track the full-flywheel: from impression all the way to hire

You want to get traction using your data. Job boards can be a good channel, but they shouldn’t be the only channel.

Reclaim your flywheel. Modern recruiting doesn’t need to feel haunted by the past. Automated talent marketing can help brands reclaim control and filter out fakes, revive ATS data and deliver a high-converting candidate experience that feels more human.

Happy Halloween!!