Can I have your opinion on this please?

AARRRGH

Hello,

I would really appreciate opinions on this matter please. Sorry it's a bit long.

I work for the community website http://www.staff.ie

We review all job applications made through the website. This is our process -

1. Jobseeker applies for a job.
2. We review the job application.
2A. If the job application is acceptable we "accept" the job application and the employer receives a copy of it by e-mail.
2B. If we deem the job application unacceptable we "reject" the job application and the employer does not receive a copy of it by e-mail.

In both cases, the job application (accepted or rejected) is stored in the employers account on Staff.ie. The employer can choose to log in and view the rejected job applications if he wishes.

What is an unacceptable job application? We consider it to be -

1. A duplicate application (jobseeker has already applied for this job.)
2. Jobseeker is clearly not suitable for the job (employer requires the jobseeker to have X amount of experience, to have a work permit, to have a particular qualification etc.)
3. Jobseeker did not include a CV in his application.

As you can probably imagine, a lot of people apply for jobs they are not suitable for. This means we have to reject a lot of applications.

This is what I want your opinion on -

Should the rejected applicants automatically be sent an e-mail saying their application has been rejected, and possible reasons why?

Or...

Is it the jobseekers own fault for applying for something they're not suitable for?

...

I prefer automatically sending an explanation, but I have a feeling this will result in hundreds of e-mails everyday looking for exact clarification, help with cover letters, CVs, etc etc etc. Basically, I think it'll create a mountain of work.

What do you guys think?

Please bear in mind that the goal of Staff.ie is to create a very nice, happy, friendly, non-scummy, recruitment website. We want to do the right thing.

Hmmmmm.

Thanks for your opinions.

Steve

dereko

First off may i say, nice website.

I'm actually using it from the employers side. (A job up there now even.)

If you can send an email with an exact reason why it was rejected and possible solution then it should reduce the amount of unnecessary questions.

Some thing like:

Reason rejected:
You didn't attach a CV.

Solution
Please upload a CV. Only applicants with CV's attached can be passed to the potential employer.


Please see our FAQ for any more information.

Best regards,
Staff.ie

My two cents..

On a side note:

I quite like how the site works functionally, it has some nice features but sometimes when you login as a employer it sends you off to the fourms.. can be confusing.

AARRRGH

Dereko,

That's a lovely, simple solution. Thank you. I will consider implementing something very similar (or more likely, exactly) like that. Cheers

Thanks for the compliments as well. We try hard!

Regarding the "being redirected to the forum" bug. Hmmm. Interesting. I remember experiencing this a while ago but I thought I'd gotten rid of it. I'll take another look. Do you mind me asking what browser (and version) and operating system you're using?

Thanks again

dereko

dublindude wrote:

Regarding the "being redirected to the forum" bug. Hmmm. Interesting. I remember experiencing this a while ago but I thought I'd gotten rid of it. I'll take another look. Do you mind me asking what browser (and version) and operating system you're using?

Windows XP, Mozilla Firefox 1.5

leeroybrown

I agree with dereko on this one. Telling people who fall into category (1) or (3) what error they have made should improve your service. Category (2) might not be so clear cut. Most people will accept the fact that they are short an important qualification but in some cases you will probably cause you some work. If the person who reviews the application gives a clear concise reason for the CV not being passed on then a lot of the rejections would probably cause no further issue. You could also consider including the fact that the CV is still available to the employer as part of a secondary list.

seamus

You could even expand on dereko's solution and automate most of it. Write yourself a form, with a drop-down to select the rejection reason. Just have one option for "Custom Reason" for those times when you want to write a message. Otherwise just select the reason, hit send, and they get the full mail with the standard text.

Assuming you're storing the rejected applications in the DB, this could also help employers if they wished to take a look at the rejected CVs. The default list could exclude duplicates and ones without CVs (but leave in the option to include them), so that the employer doesn't have to go through these ones.

You could (should) really try to kill one of these at source - don't accept any applications if they don't upload a CV (that's assuming the application is via an online form).

Eoin

Nice clean site, have a couple of thoughts about the design, but this is not the forum for it...

I would definitely send the email, I would consider it bad etiquette not to respond at all if the applicant is not suitable. Also, if people know their application is not suitable, it may educate them so next time they apply for a job, they apply for a suitable one this time / attach a CV / don't do whatever they did wrong the last time. Seamus' automated option sounds like a winner to me.

Would you consider creating something like a CV builder where people enter their experience and skillsets into pre-defined fields? This is sort of like the monster.ie approach and will give your customers (the prospective employers) the ability to search for candidates who may be suitable. I realise that this may be a totally different model to how you are operating, but may be worth thinking about.

Eoin

AARRRGH

Thanks everyone for your opinions. I greatly appreciate your input.

eoin_s: feel free to PM me your design suggestions. I do have a fairly set idea of the direction I want to take the site, so please don't be offended if I do not implement your ideas. But I'd certainly be happy to hear and consider them.

Thanks again for your good points!

chump

For the important issue of how to deal with no. 2

2. Jobseeker is clearly not suitable for the job (employer requires the jobseeker to have X amount of experience, to have a work permit, to have a particular qualification etc.)

Why don't you send them a mail saying something like
Automatic Response.
Thank you for your application. We will inform you if your CV has passed our screening process for the advertised job and has been sent to the employer.
You could put an exclaimer at the end of the mail saying the reasons you've listed + others why an application wouldn't be forwarded.

They can't expect anything if they don't get a second email then!

AARRRGH

Hello All,

Well, we've gone ahead and implemented this. I have an explanation of our process in the link below. If you have the time could you give it a quick read (will take 1 minute) and let me know if it's clear? In particular, I want to know if it sounds like we're being nice or evil (we're trying to be nice.)

Thanks!

http://www.staff.ie/forum/viewtopic.php?p=831