Impacting the Candidate Experience: Job Application Red Flags

When it comes to applying for a job, the first experience touchpoint of submitting an application for a role can make or break your impression of a company. There are a few things that can really turn off job seekers right from the start. As a job seeker myself currently, here’s a few practices that have caused me to really shake my head and ask myself if I really want to work at a particular company.

First up, asking for references upon first application. This has happened to me more than a few times in the past couple months, and it really baffles me. It's a red flag and an annoyance if you can't bypass this step, and not be given an option to add some reasonable information such as “I will provide this if selected for an interview, or further along in the process" as examples. Personally, I don't feel comfortable giving out my references' complete contact information right away. What if they get spammed or their info gets misused? Especially in the U.S. where data privacy laws are a bit lax, it's a valid concern. In a couple instances, there was no choice but to supply emails or phone numbers, otherwise you couldn't move on to the next page. This kind of request might make sense for certain government or insurance company type jobs where the organization's application process is expectantly old-fashioned, but for most roles, it seems unnecessary.

Then there's the request for your social security number right at the beginning of the application. Why does recruitment need this so soon? It's happened to me just a handful of times, but each time it felt invasive and the trust factor questioned. I remember applying for a job at Kaiser Permanente, and they asked for my SSN upfront. I noped out of there pretty quick. I tried contacting someone in recruitment but there was no contact info to be found. I messaged them via Facebook business messenger, as an alternative but my inquiry was never responded to. I asked what the reasoning was around supplying my SSN right away and how I can be assured this very private information will be secure. It definitely changed my impression of the company and whether I will apply there in the future (the answer being no if their system continues to ask for my SSN). Professionally, this could be a missed opportunity with a renowned healthcare company, but I simply don’t feel comfortable with their application process.

And let's not forget about those applications on platforms like Workday. Uploading your resume only to have to re-type everything once again into their system is just painful. Plus, creating new accounts complete with different passwords for each company. It's a time-consuming and unnecessary process that every job seeker can agree on – it's the worst of the worst candidate experiences.

LinkedIn's Easy Apply feature can cause some frustration. Some companies ask for a lot more information than others, and if you don't have exactly what they're looking for, you might get automatically rejected even if you have relevant experience and transferrable skills. For example, I was asked if I had experience in solar. That’s it, just… "do you have experience in solar?" I didn’t want to lie so I input zero years in the solar industry. I wonder if my experience in another natural resource would be deemed relevant since I checked every other requirement box? One can assume they’ll be screened out of contention immediately with these specific questions.

Companies need to realize that providing a poor experience to candidates right from the start leaves a lasting negative impression. But it's not all bad – I recently had a positive experience with a recruiter, even though I didn't end up moving to the next round of interviews. I'll share more about that experience of actually being invited to provide feedback in another post. It's not all doom and gloom- some companies are listening, and it's a refreshing and memorable experience.