Being ghosted by candidates is frustrating and time-consuming (not sure what ghosting is? See below). Piquing someone’s interest in your initial message via Indeed Resume is challenging enough (discover best practices on that here), but keeping them engaged is an entirely different obstacle.
Many employers and recruiters are being ghosted by candidates after they’ve clicked “I’m Interested” in that first contact message. In fact, Indeed research shows that ghosting is new, but 83% of employers have already experienced it. (Tweet This)
"Ghosting" is when someone abruptly stops all communication with you without any notice. In the recruiting world, it’s when a candidate goes MIA on you.
If you’ve been ghosted by candidates before, you know how discouraging it can be. Not only does it feel like all your hard work went down the drain, but you also don’t receive any feedback from the candidate on why they stopped communicating. Did they accept an offer? Were they no longer interested? Who knows.
So, how do you prevent yourself from becoming a ghostee on Indeed Resume? Here are 3 quick tips on how to re-engage those candidates.
Indeed Resume messages are one-to-one communications—those from one recruiter to one candidate—and they require a higher attention to detail than other more en-mass forms of communications from employers to candidates. Candidates want to know you’re trying! Use these three re-engagement methods to show that you care and to get more candidates to respond.
Personalization is key to winning the hearts and minds of candidates. After reviewing a resume and deciding to reach out, you’ve identified something about the candidate that leads you to believe they would be a good fit. Talk about the aspect of their background that caught your attention.
Example: “I see you have great experience in project management and worked at Google.”
Show candidates that you noticed their hard work and achievements. Let them know that you recognize their promotion, awards, or milestones.
Example: “Congrats on your recent certification!”
Don’t be afraid to follow up. Everyone is busy, and more often than not, more than one touchpoint is required to capture someone’s attention (and keep it!). A short text, email, or voicemail could be just the right nudge to convince a candidate to apply for your job. Just make sure not to go overboard on the follow-ups. Too many or too long of a message could lead candidates to delete your messages before even reading them.
Example: “Hi Sara, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to discuss the product developer role with me. I really enjoyed our conversation and your background makes you a great fit. If I can answer any additional questions, please let me know. As a reminder, here’s a link to apply. Hope to see your resume in the mix!”
By personalizing your messages, recognizing the achievements of candidates, and following up with short, helpful messages to show you are truly interested in them, you can keep candidates engaged. No one wants to feel like they were sent the same message as countless others. So, customize those messages and keep those candidates from ghosting you.
Are you using another resume database or talent pool to reach many candidates at once? This would be more of a one-to-many candidate engagement strategy, rather than one-to-one, and it requires a different approach. If you’re struggling to engage interested candidates and convince them to apply to your jobs, you may want to consider a larger, more strategic candidate nurturing initiative. This might include a series of automated emails and SMS text messages, for instance.
If you’d like to learn more about candidate engagement strategies, we’d love to chat!
