Looking for a new job can not only be a challenging process for candidates, but it can also be a profoundly overwhelming, emotional, and frustrating experience. As one of the leading staffing agencies in Northern California, Pacific Staffing knows this is especially true for an unemployed candidate.

What makes the process even worse, though, is when the candidate has a bad experience during the application process; specifically, when they don’t hear back from the employer after applying for a job.

And in fact, according to a recent CareerBuilder survey:

“The vast majority (75 percent) of workers who applied to jobs using various resources in the last year said they never heard back from the employer.”

As a hiring manager, you likely get flooded with resumes every time you post a new job. However, by not responding back to candidates, you wind up harming your image in the eyes of each candidate in a big way. And, as a result, they’ll be less likely to look for employment at your company again.

Furthermore, they’ll also be more likely to tell their friends about the negative experience they had with you. This damaging kind of publicity can even bleed over into sales if your company is perceived as having a bad employment brand.

And while you may not think a job candidate who submitted their resume for an opening at your company doesn’t really expect to hear back, you may want to think again. According to the same CareerBuilder survey:

“82% of workers expect to hear back from a company once they apply for a job.”

The bottom line? Respond to candidates who apply for jobs at your company, even if you’re not interested in them. At the very least, send them an automated response letting them know you received their resume. Something along the lines of the following will do:

“Thank you for applying for ‘ABC Position’ at ‘XYZ Company’. We appreciate your interest. We are currently processing your application and will be in contact with you shortly.”

If, after evaluating their resume, you realize they’re not a good fit for the position, then again notify them that they are no longer in the running. You don’t need to customize an email to every candidate; you can simply send out the same email that says something like:

“Thank you for applying for ‘ABC Position’ at ‘XYZ Company’. We appreciate your interest. We’ve carefully assessed your resume and regret to inform you that you have not been selected for this position. Thank you for your application and for your interest. Good luck with your job search.”

That’s all it takes to protect your employment brand from being harmed by frustrated job candidates. While it may take a bit of extra time and effort on your part, it costs a lot less to keep your brand in good favor with candidates and customers then to try and repair it.

Need Help With Your Hiring Process?

Hiring is hard work, plain and simple. And if you need some help with the process – whether because you don’t have the time or the resources – let us know. As one of the leading staffing agencies in Northern California, Pacific Staffing prides itself on learning about the culture of our clients’ teams and discovering the hard and soft skills that help predict an ideal job match. Contact us today if you’re ready to learn more about how we can help you.