We pay a lot of attention to enticing potential candidates, carefully positioning an employer brand and designing a candidate journey as efficiently as possible. But what about the finish line? How do you make sure that the last step in your new employee's journey, actually applying for a job, is simple and above all enjoyable? You can read all about the power of a good job application form in our new blog.
Drop out or persevere
How you deploy an application form depends on many factors. In the end, it is all about conversion so it is important to first carefully examine the route to the form. Chances are your recruitment campaign leads to a work-at-home website. The landing on this website, the layout of the pages and the quality of the content: all are of great importance if and when your candidate moves on to filling in an application form. Turns out visitors drop out before they have applied? Fortunately, with tools like HotJar or Google Analytics, it is possible to extensively analyse and optimise the candidate journey.
The effect
Yet the effect of an application form often only comes to light when a form is not properly set up. Of course, you'd rather be ahead of that. With a good website analysis prior to a campaign, an effectively designed work-at-home website and clear communication, you will definitely increase the conversion of your form. But even within the application form, fortunately there are plenty of things to optimise or take into account.
What works?
So the success of an application form depends on many factors. We have listed the best tips for you:
- Mobile-proof your application form
Mobile job applications continue to grow. In 2019, half of all applicants were already applying via a smartphone. An application form that doesn’t keep up with this trend is therefore a missed opportunity. Why, for example, would you make a CV compulsory? You can always ask for that later. Another handy tip: let the candidate email the job vacancy to themselves. And a cover letter? A text field in your form works wonders. You don’t always have a pre-written document to hand on your phone. That’s a drop-off point!
- Simple, short and clear
A good application form is designed so that you can fly through it. Clear instructions, but without too much fuss. This helps minimise the chances of your candidate dropping out. It’s therefore always a good idea to ask for a phone number so you can follow up. That way, the dialogue between you and your potential employee gets off to a flying start! But do make sure you give your candidate the option to get in touch with you too. A good example? Take a look at this application form from Sogeti.
- Applying for a job with LinkedIn? Yes, please!
Who wants to fill in all their details in a form? Nobody. That is why it is useful to know that you can link an application form to LinkedIn. So your candidate can have all his/her relevant data from a LinkedIn profile automatically filled in on your application form with the press of a button. And you make it even easier for your candidate to apply. Convenience serves the man!
- The process: this is how we do it
And finally, let your candidate know what to expect from this application. What happens after submitting the form? How many application rounds are there? Is there an assessment? Who will the interviews be held with? Always nice for a candidate to know.
How to proceed?
It is to be expected that the trend of speed and convenience in application forms will continue. This fits our current society, of course. In addition, an application form will increasingly function as a contact form. Whereby calling or appending is the logical next step. The link with LinkedIn will also play an increasing role. Because the expectation is that people will have less and less of a document with a CV and will increasingly opt for the CV on LinkedIn.
Areyou curious about the effect of an optimised application form? We would be happy to tell you more about how a good form can support your campaign. Feel free to contact us!
