Dive Brief:
- A majority (69%) of U.S. applicants feel the job-hunting process is impersonal, according to the latest American Staffing Association Workforce Monitor survey, which polled 2,100 U.S. adults.
- Eight in 10 respondents said they feel their applications and resumes end up in a "black box," and even more (85%) believe making personal contacts to be a "more helpful" job search tactic than using the internet. Additionally, 59% said the internet was not "all I need" to find a job.
- Respondents cited face-to-face meetings (72%), phone calls (72%) and email (71%) as acceptable ways to contact them about job openings; text messaging (24%) was cited as the least preferred way to make personal contact. The survey also found that although 83% of respondents think technology has made it easier to search for a job, 59% think that new technologies, like job-on-demand apps and resume data-mining, have made landing a job harder.
Dive Insights:
HR practitioners are no stranger to half-effort hiring processes that don't really speak to candidates personally; but face-to-face contact is becoming an increasingly important feature of recruiting strategies.
While job hunters can improve their chances of getting a job by making personal contacts, HR managers and recruiters can personalize the hiring process in several ways, including by using the same tech tools job hunters worry are hurting their chances.
On the outreach side of the process, texting is growing as a speedy way to make personal contacts in the digital way. Texting may not solve all of your staffing woes (and judging by the survey results, it may take some time to grow on candidates), but it does allow recruiters to reach candidates on platforms that they use everyday in a unique, personalized way. And in today's competitive job market, mobility matters.
