Creating a User-Friendly Job Application Process - Spark Hire

Creating a User-Friendly Job Application Process - Spark HireWhen competing against so many other recruiters to get to top talent first, one of the most important things you can do is to make sure that your application process is user-friendly.Below are 4 easy ways for you to make your application process a tool of ease for candidates1. Easy to AccessToday, in the world of recruiting, top talent is not necessarily swarming your website, searching through job postings. Furthermore, they are absolutely not going to take the time to complete a cumbersome application process, nor do they always need to do this.If you want to have a better chance at top talent applying to your positions, you need to make sure your application process is easy to access.Think of developing a mobile site where applicants can easily view and apply to your positions via tablets or smart phones. According to Undercover Recruiter, 3 in 5 jobseekers are using mobile devices to search for jobs. I promise you that passive candidates (top talent that you need) is casually browsing job openings on their mobile devices. Make it easy for them to see your opportunities and apply.2. Quick ProcessIf you are requiring your applicants to answer a lot of pre-qualification questions before submitting their application, you will easily lose valuable top talent to this cumbersome requirement.Eliminate the excessive questions and make it quick and easy for a candidate to apply to your opportunities. Yes, this may increase the number of unqualified applicants you receive to a job, but if you receive 1 top qualified applicant out of 20, it will be well worth it.3. Options for Resume SubmittalTodays top talent is much more technically advanced than previous years. This means that the top candidate you are searching for may not have the traditional resume to submit. In this case, you should offer other options.Make sure that your application process offers the option for a candidate to submit a video resume or LinkedIn profile. If you have made the decision to go mobile with your application process, it will be very easy to modify the process so that applicants can apply via LinkedIn.Video resumes may be new to you, but you will find out that they offer a great way to judge a candidates personality and cultural fit when it comes to making initial selections during the interview process. Make sure that you offer the option for candidates to upload a video resume in distributionspolitik of a standard resume.4. Confirmation follow-upAs with any application process, make sure that you have some kind of confirmation going out to an applicant to notify them that their application was received. Likewise, if you had decided that the applicant is not a fit, make sure that you send a follow up email notification that they were not selected to move forward.If a top candidate has applied, be sure to immediately follow up with that candidate. The longer you wait to reach out to top talent, the better the chance that another recruiter will contact the candidate first.What are some other ways you could make your application process user friendly? Please share your tips in the comments below.Image Maridav/BigStock.com

Four April Fools Pranks Not to Play at the Office (And Two You Can)

Four April Fools Pranks Not to Play at the Office (And Two You Can) Four April Fools Pranks Not to Play at the Office (And Two You Can) At Londons City Hall, cheeky employees sent their vacationing coworker an emergency deadline dated April 1st. They assumed hed notice the date and get the joke right away, but instead he panicked and began to experience heart palpitations. According to The Museum of Hoaxes, Finally he collapsed from the stress and had to take leave from work. As he was recovering he realized it just wasnt worth risking his health to finish the report, so he filed for early retirement. When someone explained the joke, he sued the city for damages.Weve seen several iterations of this one, but they all involve a keyboard, a packet of seeds, and about two weeks of careful watering. Turning your coworkers keyboard into a planter may seem like a fun idea, but its time consuming, messy, and unless you supply your own decoy keyboard, you may be in deep trouble for destroyi ng company property. landsee also encasing office supplies in Jell-o or completely wrapping a coworkers cube in tin foil or plastic wrap.At Dave Syferd Partners in Seattle, employees pranked the creative director of their advertising firm by cleaning out his office while he was on vacation and moving his stuff to a small cubicle. On his return he assumed that hed been demoted from partner of the firm to lowly cube dweller. According to Katie Robertson, Instead of allowing the company to demote him, Kindred decided to drive to Canada and become a park ranger. He eventually returned to his old job- and office- after his coworkers confessed.Any pranks that involve calling the cops are not only a bad idea but also illegal, as this Waffle House employee discovered last year. Pulling fire alarms and calling in bomb threats fall into the saatkorn category. While not illegal, we recommend you avoid inciting all of your coworkers to pretend to call in sick on the first or jokingly handing i n your resignation. Depending on your bosss sense of humor, you may find yourself out of a job for real.So what can you do on the next April Fools Day? Here are a couple of pranks we think youll likeAs grammar geeks, were particularly fond of this one Open the settings of a coworkers untended Gmail or Facebook account and change the display language. Its a relatively easy fix- they can just switch the display back to English- but theyll be really confused as they try to figure out whats going on. Facebook features a particularly bizarre upside-down English setting.Another great grammar-based prank is to open exakts proofreading options and change the AutoCorrect settings to replace a commonly typed word with something silly. If theyre careful proofreaders, theyll catch it right away, but just in case, you might want to point out the mistake before they send out a memo where the bosss name is replaced with Cheese Dude or Big Moose.Remember, the goal of April Fools Day is to bring a l ittle whimsy and laughter to other peoples lives. Mean-spirited pranks intended to humiliate or frighten your victims are never a good idea.Have fun out there