By Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library
According to research that we published earlier this year, the majority (81.4%) of women are not willing to compromise on certain areas when looking for a job. Compared to just 76.9% of men, it’s clear that women are becoming more tenacious in their job hunt – and who can blame them? With the power increasingly being put into candidates hands, it’s no wonder that many do not want to settle for anything but the best opportunities to boost their career.
But with many becoming increasingly impatient, what does this mean for businesses and how can they adjust? Below, I outline the key areas highlighted in our research that would put women off a job, and explain what organisations can do to counter this.
1. Unclear job descriptions
According to our research, the number one turn-off for women when it came to looking for a new role was unclear job descriptions. And this is no surprise. A job posting is the first insight a candidate can get into your company, but if it is not clear what the role requires, what the job will entail and what the next steps are, then this could put a potential recruit off from applying. Ensuring your job descriptions are clear and concise, accurately reflect the role in question and clearly outline the qualities and experience needed for the role, is important.
2. Low salary
While you can’t always promise the best salaries in your industry, it’s important to remain competitive and on a par with sector trends. Ensuring you offer fair salaries is crucial, especially given that women are likely to be put off by low pay offerings. And if you can’t meet these requirements, try and think about how you can make up for it in other areas; such as your benefits package and flexible working options.
3. A bad reputation
No-one wants to work for a company that has a bad reputation in its industry and it’s now easier than ever for job hunters to find out exactly what it’s like to work somewhere. This can be anything from feedback on the management team, to the day-to-day working environment; nowadays, no stone goes unturned! Ultimately, establishing a good reputation falls down to your employer brand and how it is perceived my potential recruits. Ensuring you have a strong employer brand, which is reflected throughout your recruitment process, is key.
4. Long recruitment process
In the digital era, job hunters have become increasingly impatient as they search for the next step in their career path, so it’s not surprising that a long recruitment process is a turn-off for many. Making it more efficient is important and this could be anything from introducing initial screening questions at the application stage, to cutting down the amount of interview stages that are required.
5. Poor communication
Finally, candidates are likely to be put off by a lack of communication throughout the recruitment process, so ensuring that you keep them in the loop with progress is extremely important. After all, if a potential recruit does not hear back from you within a certain time frame, they’re likely to accept an offer from another company which has spent the time needed to communicate and made them feel appreciated.
Essentially, there are a range of factors which impact a person’s decision on applying for, and joining your company. Putting yourself in the candidate’s shoes is important and by considering the factors that are attracting them to, and putting them off roles can really help to set you in the right frame of mind.
