This is the final post in my series on merit based hiring. Don’t miss the others in the series - breaking down the executive order on federal hiring, merit based job posts, and pre-hire assessments. Today we’re tackling candidate communications. What’s a good standard and how do we create connections while sending cold emails?
The merit based hiring executive orders included a few different upgrades for federal hiring - shorter time to fill, better interviews, and merit based job postings. They also mentioned one area every organization seems to struggle with: candidate communications. What they said specifically is that with this merit based hiring executive order, federal employees must “improve communication with candidates to provide greater clarity regarding application status, timelines, and feedback, including regular updates on the progress of applications and explanations of hiring decisions.”
Of all the wild headlines and orders, this is a change I can get on board with. If you’ve ever looked for a job or waited for confirmation of a consulting gig, you know the waiting is the hardest part. The messages come in waves. It’s all at once - 6 emails in one day confirming an interview time and details - then 6 days of silence. Emails are an emotional rollercoaster.
We, the employers, are the rollercoaster operators in this horror show. Recruiters are renowned for being awful communicators because of the way they email. In the federal government, it’s even worse. We laugh about that information now. Just wait until email doesn’t work anymore.
What Happens If People Stop Reading Recruiter Emails?
Hear me out. I’m not going to be so bold as to suggest the “death of email” but the diminishing returns are real. More people are unsubscribing from emails than ever before. No one wants more inbox abuse and getting those emails that ask someone like me if they want to take a pest control franchise? That’s certainly not going to make me want to take a chance on opening the next email a recruiter sends me.
Data suggests about 30% - 50% of recruiter emails never get read based on industry. If that number gets closer to 50% across every industry, that means you won’t get a response when you reach out later. It means you pay more to repost jobs and start over every time you hire. You’re going to have to find new options. I don’t even want to know the cost of candidate attention if email was not an option at all.
This risk of losing email is a real potential consequence of how we’ve communicated in the past. Job seekers feel abandoned during the hiring process. 80% of hiring managers admit to ghosting candidates at some point. 80% isn’t a minor hiccup. It’s an obvious area where we need to do more work.
The Candidate Communications You Won’t Be Automating
The first step when I work with teams on setting up candidate communications is to distinguish what should and should not be automated. As much as I love this whole “AI takes over the world” narrative, there’s a lot that machines just shouldn’t do - especially when it comes to communicating with people who are feeling uncertain and uncomfortable about their future. That’s usually why they’re willing to look for a job in the first place.
There’s nuance to my answer for every company because they are different. However, I have a few rules. Let’s start with things we will not be automating.
- Feedback. If there’s anything that suggests you didn’t get a job for a specific reason in an automated email that goes out to a lot of people, you’re doing it wrong. That’s rude.
- Bad news. My general rule of thumb is if they have talked to a person that works at your company on the phone, they do not get the auto email from the inbox that tells you thank you then not to reply to it.
We start with these because they are inherently emotional emails. If you care about the employer brand, that’s where you start: interactions that inspire emotion. This is an easy win.
Done For You: Automating The Post Application Confirmation
If you automate no other candidate communication, automate the post application confirmation email. Here’s what it should include no matter your values, goals, or anything else. Note: you can add to this, but you can not subtract.
- Thank you for applying. We always say thank you, even to the AI. Be nice.
- Service level agreements aka a candidate SLA. Think of this less as a strict timeline like, “we’re going to close applications April 30th,” and more of a “within 30 days if you haven’t heard anything, we’re going to move your resume to be considered for other opportunities.”
- How to contact a person. Any time you automate, you have to include some way to contact a human for questions or feedback.
There’s a perception that customization takes a lot of time and automation means you send emails to the wrong people. Both add up to people being able to convince themselves it’s not worth sending the email at all. That’s not true. Even the smallest adjustments can add up to trust and saving time.
Merit Based Hiring: Series Wrap Up
From the meaning behind merit to learning how we co-opt the merit based hiring playbook to create more equitable outcomes, I hope you’ve found one (or many) ways to make a difference at work.
Focus now on making these changes part of your infrastructure. No more overhauls, policies, or values on the wall. We can’t wait for big news events to make a change any more. Build into the strategy. This work is your legacy and I hope you’ll leave the world of work more diverse, equitable, and inclusive for all.
More in this series:
- Your Culture Is Showing: Why I Hate Hiring Assessments
- 5 Questions To Answer In Your Job Post
- Merit Based Hiring: Executive Order Explained
At Three Ears Media, we train teams to create better content using AI. Whether it’s job posts, candidate communications, or more creative outlets - let us teach your team the prompts to take the average output and transform it into something worth sharing. We offer team training, process consulting, and 1-1 coaching for teams interested in creating high-quality content that drives qualified candidate conversion. Interested in learning more? Book a call with me.
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