Why is recruiting so hard?

[henrysugar12]

Been trying to recruit for a position since the middle of December. Had lots of applicants but none are suitable for the job! As it's a niche position, I understand that it's not going to be simple finding someone, but I would have thought that there would be some better applicants!

Most of the CVs list various chronic health issues, that they are on maternity leave for more than 6 months (ad said immediate start), or lots of other things that are not making them look like the best option! Some of the CVs show that they have moved jobs 3 or 4 times in a year and some have absolutely no relevant experience.

What on earth is going on? A couple that we have contacted about interviews have been so non-committal and we've not managed to get them to come in for an interview. Are these people just applying to continue claiming jobseekers or something? It's so frustrating

Your description is rubbish.

Filing, no experience, minimum wage
Filing + data entry, small uplift,
Filing+ data entry +other office duties another uplift
Add in answering the phone, receptionist duties, maybe someone with experience and you should be quite a bit over minimum wage, or if a good employer, living wage.

I would guess that your salary is too low. Have you proof read your advert? I won't apply for jobs where the ad is badly written.

You can't be serious?

When was the last time you applied for a job?

You need to advertise the salary
People are less likely to apply for a job where no salary is stated or it just says competitive. Usually means the salary is rubbish when it's not stated

You have one of a few problems:

1- your advert is wrong, pull it, scrub it and re advertise.
2- the listed salary is unrealistic for what you want
3- the salary isn’t listed (personally I don’t apply for jobs if the salary isn’t listed - why should I waste my time with an organisation who’s as transparent as mud)
4- your expectations are unrealistic, you’re expecting a master of all trades that just doesn’t exist

get advice from a recruiter, they’ll be able to tell you what’s wrong with your approach fairly quickly.

also you sound like you’re actively discriminating against some applicants - reconsider your outlook and tread carefully.

I used to get dozens of inappropriate applications from people who were clearly only applying to meet the quota required to continue claiming benefits.

You have to cast the net wider. So either an agency worker who can start asap or wait to find the right person. Immediate start is a red herring.

In the advert add the salary range.

If it's office based over wfh then expect you'll have a smaller pool of talent.

Job history or health (or age) is not really useful to use for shortlisting. Since covid work has really changed, as has health. I don't think your perfect candidate exists so you'll have to be very open minded and use the probation period wisely.

My company is actively targeting employee retention. External recruitment is very hard and they want to avoid people leaving. The recruitment process is very thorough but definitely a trend for hiring transferable skills and attitude is rising.

Having read OP's updates I understand what she means, people who go into lots of detail about their various health issues are clearly only applying to keep claiming UC. Nothing for her to reconsider or 'tread carefully'.

If you are not getting decent applicants then it is because the salary is too low for the job role, it's that simple for me.

Although, its horrible out there for applicants at the min aswell! My partner applies for loads of jobs and barely hears a thing back, its awful. He's well educated aswell, it's a nightmare.

My advice would be:

Don't discriminate against people with health issues or who are on maternity leave - as well as being a legal no-no, you're potentially missing out on good candidates by further restricting your options.
Make the job more attractive. An on-site part-time admin role might not seem particularly exciting. What can you (the company) add to make it more appealing? Emphasise those things in the advert.
Pay a competitive salary and advertise the salary.
If this is the pool of candidates you have to pick from after your best efforts to attract people, accept that and make the best available choice from the people appointable.

1. you are not paying enough
2. you are not advertising the salary

This is all.

If your boss is too cheap to pay a recruiter and doesn't advertise salary, it's a part time minimum wage job

You should just list the career break with no reason. It's indirect sex discrimination if they ask as it could be to care for children, elderly relatives etc. I wouldn't highlight a health condition on your cv if at all possible.

Or it could be prison!

No one with any brains is going to interview for a part-time, 100% on-site job without knowing the salary range and where the prior employee isn't still there to train you, which also means your boss is unorganized and too cheap to pay two people so one can train the other for a couple of weeks.

"Although as it's a part-time job and incredibly flexible with the hours I'd assume that it would be mums with young children who would be applying, but it's not".

Sexist too, great!

Fathers can do childcare not just mothers.

Is it in the North-East? I have a friend looking for a part-time admin type role- he's great with spreadsheets.

If you pay enough, you’ll get candidates for the job. I’m betting the salary isn’t advertised (red flag), so you’re getting a bunch of hopefuls applying. Either take a chance on a hopeful - they may work out; be out and proud regarding the salary - put it in the add; and if all else fails - go to a recruiter.

when the inevitable "no one wants to work" bs gets raised, the inevitable response is, let’s test that theory by advertising for the job with a 100k salary.

The job advert obviously isn’t written in an appealing way coupled with the fact that ye are probably advertising in the wrong areas

It's sounds like your only attracting applications from people who have to apply for x jobs per week of are sanctioned.

So it's either only being advertised on whatever jobs board the job centre is using now or is really really unattractive

As asked already - what is part time ?

Is it flexible ?
i.e. Can I choose my part time hours between the hours of say 9 am-6 pm can I choose to work 11 am - 3 pm 4 days a week ?
or is it set hours of 9 am - 6 pm 2 days a week ?
Or what ?

Free parking in your car park - must be mentioned, as there is no way I am paying for 4 hours parking @ ? p.h. or taking 2 busses a day @ £2 per trip, that's just under half of the 1st hour's money if it is min wage.

Min wage differs according to your age.

You say you want experience in a ' niche ' position, but you also say you provide the training !

It's definitely the advert. Yes, "No qualifications" and vagueness means anyone can apply for it and use it as evidence for UC, and the people it might suit will skip over it because it is too badly written. Hiding the salary is off-putting because it looks like you're hiding it for a reason - with it being a "no qualifications" job, that reason will likely be because the pay is shit. Potential shit pay for part-time hours isn't going to appeal to many when there are other jobs that pay better for "no qualifications".

Not really, some people look at long term progression options. If you're a small company there's not a whole lot of room to move up. Some of that is skills/opportunity/career related rather than just the direct link to pay rises.

Because there's one copy of the software and it's on the PC that is in the office. If that PC's disk dies, the business is in the shit. I've encountered far too many places like that.

Recruiters are shit though. We tried about 6 companies and then just started posting job ads ourselves. It meant we could offer people a significantly bigger salary vs throwing away 5-10k on a recruiter every time.

I'm often pointing out on FB job ads that they need to:
Include salary
Include hours
Include the actual company name
Some of them look super dodgy and like they are fake. So be careful there.

You need to include the salary for a start.
And the hours, even if its "10 hours a week, negotiable between 8am and 6pm, Monday to Friday".

Niche job but the only requirement is admin experience and you'll train on the job? I would say that you'd do better looking for those after an entry job or returning to work, rather than dismissing them. They are also much more likely to be available immediately

Those declining interview might well have found other employment which is more open.

You've already been called out for the discrimination so no need to do that.

Those on mat leave might also be hoping that they are such a good candidate that you'll be able to wait a little longer.