Job Seekers are Calling the Shots Now

The traditional concept of a buyer’s vs seller’s market applies to homes. In a seller’s market, those who want to sell their homes possess increased negotiating power over the buyer. This is because there are fewer homes for sale than buyers. In a buyer’s market, the reverse is true – more homes for sale than buyers. The supply is abundant so the buyer has more choices. 

Right now we’re seeing the same concept shake out in the employment sector. We’ve got job openings and prospective employees, and the openings far surpass those seeking employment. LinkedIn is one of the most popular sites for employment openings. Launched in 2003, it is known to many as the “professional Facebook.” Folks create their respective profiles, upload CVs, and network on daily feeds. There are different subscription levels and as of September 2021, the site boasted an impressive 774 million registered members across 200+ countries. 

Passport-Photo.Online was curious as to what employers were doing right (and wrong) on LinkedIn in terms of hiring practices. It’s a job seeker’s market right now and LinkedIn alone has 15million-plus job listings. Passport-Photo.Online surveyed 991 US respondents in April 2022 and compiled some of the deadly sins employers commit on this popular job networking and search platform. 

At a broad level, a nice majority of professionals (79%) feel positive or very positive when employers contact them about a potential job opportunity. Over half (62%) are not a fan of companies ghosting them on LinkedIn, and a near majority (95%) would prefer having access to a posting’s salary range. Nearly three-quarters (69%) are likely to skip ads that employ ageist or gender-coded language, and 64% find it annoying when a separate application form is required after their CV has been submitted on LinkedIn.

In terms of candidate outreach and communication, the worst response you can receive in return is the proverbial crickets. Here is what the survey revealed:

If the recruiter’s message is too generic, the opportunity does not match the candidate’s experience or career trajectory, the company has a poor LinkedIn presence, there are a plethora of overused buzzwords, and even worse, grammatical mistakes, all of the above do not bode well for the recruiter or potential employer.  

In terms of following up with a potential hire, two times appears to be the sweet spot. Only 4% of respondents would tolerate four follow-up messages. And lastly, stop the ghosting! Recruiters are understandably busy, but ghosting an applicant will simply ruin the recruiter or the employer’s reputation. It’s a lose-lose proposition with job seekers, period. 

Finally, a strong job ad is critical. On LinkedIn, most candidates will spend an average of just 49.7 seconds on a posting before moving on to the next one. That might sound like a nice chunk of time, but it flies quickly. Candidates are most interested in seeing a clearly communicated job title (69%), the location of the position (62%), a summary (61%), the type of employment and benefits (58% respectively), key duties (54%), and essential skills and experiences required (53%). 

A salary range is critical, with 69% of seekers indicating they are likely or very likely to skip over those ads that do not include one. Using terms like “Jedi” or “superstar” in job titles has become more common, and close to half of all respondents held positive feelings toward this practice. But, ageist or sexist language in job ads was only held in a positive light by just 19% of respondents. Again, valuable data for recruiters and employers to consider moving forward. 

The job seeker in 2022 can afford to be picky. If recruiters and employers on LinkedIn want to ensure they’re getting the best bang for their advertising buck, these findings from Passport-Photo.Online should be their marketing and recruiting starting point.