12 Ways Your Talent Acquisition Team Can Nail the Candidate Application Process (Part 2 of 9)

Acknowledging Your Candidates’ Applications

Don’t overlook this opening opportunity to transform an excellent first impression into an equally memorable evergreen one. I’ve listed six tips below to enhance how you acknowledge your candidates’ applications. If you are confident in your team’s ability in this area, jump ahead to the next section for six tips to gracefully reject a candidate’s application.

Tip #1: Acknowledge receipt of your candidates’ applications using a personalized salutation.

In an eye-opening survey, 54.7 percent of the respondents indicated ghosting – applying and not hearing back from employers – was their top challenge when searching for work on a job board or recruitment platform. It’s remarkable how so many employers fail to extend this simple common courtesy to their applicants. Whether the omission is due to innocent negligence, intentional calculation, or something in between, failure to acknowledge a candidate’s application signals the employer doesn’t think the candidate is important enough to respond. And, clearly, that is not a message you want to send.

Here's an example of how to incorporate this tip in your acknowledgement email:

Example: Thank you for your interest in *Momentum Media Group, Douglas! We’re writing to let you know we have received your application for Manager, Data Strategy Project Management.

Tip #2: Thank candidates for their interest in the position and express enthusiasm for learning more about them.

Candidates invest considerable time and effort to complete and submit their applications. One study found the average time to complete a job application is around 23 minutes. That includes filling out forms, uploading résumés, and completing additional assessments required by the employer. That figure does not take into account the time spent by candidates researching the employer and tailoring their cover letter and résumé to the position.

It's simple to demonstrate that you value the time candidates invested to apply to your organization. The examples below seamlessly combine this tip with the previous one.

• Example #1: Jasmine, thank you for your interest in Salamander & Gecko Engineering. We understand the effort it takes to apply and are thrilled that you would consider joining our team. This email confirms that we have received your application for the Employee Relations Representative role. We look forward to learning more about you.

  
  

• Example #2: Congratulations Jeremiah! Your application for the Workforce Management Consulting Manager role at Vaughn Maxwell has been received. We are excited about the possibility of you joining our team and contributing to our continued success. Thank you for your interest in Vaughn Maxwell, and we welcome the opportunity to learn more about you.

  
  

• Example #3: Hello Matthew. Thank you for your interest in Pyramid Solutions. We received your application for Data Analytics Manager. We understand the application process is time consuming and we appreciate you spending your time considering Pyramid Solutions. We look forward to discussing how you can add value to our company.

Check back next week for Tip #3!

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