The problem is twofold:
1) Candidates say there are not enough employers following up with them (particularly post-interview), which creates dissatisfaction among candidates.
2) Employers say there is not enough time to respond to all (or, in some cases, any) candidates whom they don’t choose to hire. So what gives?

Why should you care?

• Respect. No one wants to wait in agony for the possibility of bad news. Candidates shouldn’t have to chase you down to find out whether they landed your open job; they have applications to send out and interviews to go on! Think of the rejection like a Band-Aid, and give candidates the bad news rather than putting it off and dragging it out.

• Reputation. While today’s candidates are selling themselves to you, you’re also selling yourself to them.  Your employment brand and company image is at stake. Keeping the lines of communication open will help you build and maintain relationships with candidates who may become your employees at a later date. And even if they don’t become your employees, reputation is a powerful thing. If you don’t give candidates the respect of knowing whether or not they can cross your open job off their list, they might tell a friend. Who tells a friend. And before you know it, candidates may start to avoid applying to your company. Customers may also see your lack of communication as a sign of how you will work with them. A little communication can go a long way in how candidates — and customers — see your company.

• Organize and save time. Aside from reputation, keeping this piece of communication in your recruitment process can actually help you organize your process and save time. Why field tons of calls or e-mails from irate candidates who haven’t heard back from you? Why put them through the agony, and why go through it yourself? For not a lot of effort, you can get a big return.

Who has the time? Yes, time is an issue. But with the right tools, you can spend as much time as you have (which likely isn’t much) to get your message out there. If you do have the luxury of time, you can go the extra mile with candidates — but in my experience, making even a small effort is better than making no effort at all.

“It’s important that employers not lose sight of communication with candidates, which is so necessary, particularly in our current economic environment,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder.

“While employers are facing many challenges in the recruitment process, they must remember that candidates are facing a unique set of challenges as well. By facilitating candidates’ job search process, employers are not only making the process less cumbersome for the people applying to their jobs, but also building a strong reputation and a culture of respect.”

Options:

• My Letters: My Letters is a free CareerBuilder Job Posting tool that enables you to create and save up to 20 different automatic response letters to send to job seekers after they submit an application to your job. With My Letters, you can get necessary information out to candidates quickly, easily, and effectively.  Create letters concerning the job position, needed candidate information, interview status, to alert of next steps in the process, to thank candidates, and more — and automate many parts of the recruitment communication process, without losing touch with candidates.

• Snail mail: While the heart may swoon at an ink-stained, handwritten letter sent the old-fashioned way, it’s not always the best option for your candidates. With that said, however, getting a response of some kind out, even if it is not as timely as e-mail, is better than nothing; at least candidates receive some kind of confirmation and closure. They can then either cross you off their list entirely or keep your company in mind for future opportunities (depending how open you keep that door in the letter, of course).

Tips for the best rejection letters or e-mails:

1. Be candid but gentle. Remember, this is a rejection — be respectful of candidates’ feelings and wish them success in future endeavors.
2. State a clear reason for the rejection; For example: “We have selected other candidate/s whose credentials were better suited to this position.”
3. Be honest. If there are other future opportunities and you will keep the resume on file or want a candidate to reapply in future, say so. If not, don’t. Don’t promise to keep a candidate’s resume on file if you have no intention of doing so, and if you do, state a specific time frame (six months, for example).
4. Be personal. Personalize the letter with the candidate’s name, position, and, if possible, a remark — or at least your signature.
5. While this is a rejection letter, it is still nice to compliment a candidate if warranted – “although your background and qualifications are impressive, we have chosen someone else for this position.”
6. Don’t send a postcard; this isn’t a “hello” from your Caribbean vacation, and it reeks of impersonality. A letter format is more appropriate. Plus, if you go the e-mail route, your costs are even more minimal.
7. Do not say who was hired for the position in question.
8. Respond to candidates in a reasonable amount of time.

You can check out examples of rejection letters here and here.

This quick and easy read – available for a free download below – is essentially a guide for making candidate searching as painless a process as possible.  

As the economy makes its way to recovery, your organization may find itself with an urgent need to re-grow staff in order to keep up with increasing demand.  “Search Smart” provides tips and tricks you can use to conduct an easier, faster and more effective resume database search – and find the perfect candidate when time is of the essence.

Searching for candidates doesn’t have to be complicated or time consuming, but it can be if you’re not going about it the right way.  ”Search Smart” explains what you need to know to get the most relevant results – in the shortest amount of time – when conducting a resume database search, including: 

• Why candidate search today requires a different approach than a decade ago, and how to rethink the way we search for talent.
• How to understand and effectively use the technology within the resume database for faster and easier search.
• The advantage of using search in a world that relies increasingly on social media recruitment tactics.
• The difference between keyword and concept search, and how to use both techniques together and more efficiently.
• How to avoid common mistakes to take the time and labor out of resume databse searches.   

If you’ve ever been frustrated or disappointed when conducted resume database searches – whether you’re not getting the quality or quantity of results you need or find it too time-consuming – you should take a look at this eBook. 

Click on the image below to view or download your free copy of CareerBuilder’s Search Smart eBook.

Similarly, hiring isn’t simply posting a job and accepting the first person who comes along. Successful employers view hiring as a multi-faceted process — stemming from attraction all the way to retention, with several aspects in between. As an employer in today’s economy, you must be cognizant of changing job seeker practices, communicative during your candidate engagement efforts, active in encouraging employee satisfaction and retention — all while establishing and building a strong and recognizable brand and fostering a thriving internal company culture. (Whew!) There’s a lot involved in being a successful business with the best employees on board, and sometimes, you need a hand to help you brush up on those areas which you’ve neglected — or simply haven’t thought about before.

That’s why we’re happy to report that CareerBuilder’s Small Business Hiring Guide is now available for you to download (for FREE… we must be crazy, right?!).

What is it?

The Small Business Hiring Guide is a how-to guide full of advice, tips, and trends, compiled  by CareerBuilder’s team of small business experts. It is designed to keep you up-to-date and armed with the latest on hiring so that you can make your most successful hires now — or whenever you’re ready.

In the guide, you will learn:

• How to improve your internal company culture
• Tips to strengthen your employment brand
• The importance of employee recognition
• The six essential steps of the Talent Supply Chain: Brand Establishment, Candidate Attraction, Application Management, Onboarding, Retention, and Succession Management
• …and more.

You can download the full guide here.

Applicant Explorer enables you to immediately see the most useful and valuable information out there about that candidate, such as his or her Facebook or Brightfuse profile, dedication to an online engineering forum, food photography blog, or published article about business etiquette. Get access to the details a resume may not give you the opportunity to see — and get a more clear picture of candidates before you say “You’re hired.”

Still need more information about Applicant Explorer? Check out the video above.

The gist:

My Letters allows you to create and save up to 20 different automatic response letters to send to job seekers after they submit an application to your job. Job Postings on their own are great, but if you’re not using My Letters, you’re:

1. Sporting this style of desk (and life) organization
2. Wasting a lot of time painstakingly hand-writing response letters with your old-school quill pen, you Thomas Jefferson wannabe.
   OR…
3. Ignoring candidates altogether. And really, that’s no good. No good at all.

Also known as:

The bento box of CareerBuilder’s Free Tools You Can Use. Y’know — Compartmentalize. Organize. (Yes, that’s Mario.)

Why you need it:

Communication is one of the most important elements of both personal and business communication — and with layoffs on the rise and more job seekers searching now than in the past, it is an absolutely crucial element of your hiring process. My Letters is a particularly effective tool to use with your Job Postings, because you can automate your communication to candidates, but still make your messages relevant and targeted to the candidates applying to your job.

Why job seekers love it:

My Letters enable you to get necessary information out to candidates quickly, easily, and effectively. You can create letters concerning the job position, needed candidate information, interview status, to alert of next steps in the process, to thank candidates, and more. Basically, My Letters are your canvas. Automate as much communication as you need to, and organize your candidate communication — no quill pens necessary!

And better yet, you’re not leaving candidates in the dark. You may not realize how much those candidates applying to your jobs want and need your attention and your responses, but they do. While that job may not be the first thing on your mind, people seeking a new job are likely checking their e-mail a million times a day. They’re applying like crazy, they’re busy working on their resumes, they’re setting up interviews — and they’re counting on that communication from you. By communicating with them in even simple ways, you’re setting yourself apart as an employer, and you are taking a huge and important step forth in relationships with those candidates who may be your next employees.

How to get it:

Two Simple Steps to Create “My Letters”:

1. Go to the ‘My Letters’ selection from the ‘Manage Candidates’ tab located on the upper task bar
2. Click “Add New Letter” on the right-hand side of the page. Name your letter, select your privacy setting, and fill in your text.Utilize the My Letters feature in one of two ways: 1) Send letters directly to candidates yourself, or 2) Set letters up to auto-respond once a job seeker applies to an open position.

Big Tips:

• Once your letter is created, you can edit, copy, or deactivate/reactivate letters from your “My Letters” page.

• You can also preview the letter, send a test email out, and send letters from three locations:
  • When viewing a candidate’s resume
  • When you are posting a job
  • From the ‘Active Letters’ tab
• When a tag field is clicked on to the left the information will appear in the text box of the letter. Once the letter is sent out to job seekers, it will automatically populate with the information designated.

For step-by-step instructions, FAQs, and screen shots of “My Letters,” click here.

The dish: CareerBuilder’s Resume Search Agents, or RSAs

The gist: Conduct a Resume Database search,  save that search, and have your new resume matches e-mailed to you as frequently (or infrequently) as you’d like.

Also known as: The tempting dessert tray of CareerBuilder’s Free Tools. The best of the candidates you’re looking for, brought right to you. View resumes in your inbox right away, or take a more in-depth look once it’s convenient for you. Like after dinner.

Why: Resume Search Agent just may be the best time-saving option you didn’t know existed. Once you create your initial Resume Database searches, you’re done (until you want to save a new search). Check out candidates’ resumes when and where you have time, rather than conducting a million different searches through CareerBuilder each day and getting overwhelmed.

How to get it:As long as you have Resume Database access, you already have access to RSAs.

Simple Steps to Save a Search:

1. Run your desired Resume Database search.
2. When you are happy with your entered criteria, select the “Save this Search” button.
3. You will be prompted to name your search; enter a name.
4. You will also be able to select the frequency with which you would like to receive new matches in your e-mail inbox. If you’d rather just save your search and check for updated matches when you log in, you can opt not to have resumes e-mailed to you. Your choice.
5. You can save as many searches as you like.
6. To access Saved Searches, go to the “My Resumes” tab in My CareerBuilder and select “Saved Searches.”Need more instruction? Click here.

Note: If you choose to have search matches e-mailed, you will not start receiving e-mails until you start getting      resumes that match your saved criteria. If you’re looking for a fire-eater from Montana, this could take some time, so be patient.

Pairs best with: Resume Database access, of course! And a knack for narrowing down your search criteria to the skills and qualifications you’re really looking for.

Need help? Consult one of our customer service reps at 1-800-891-8880.

Satisfy your cravings: You can have matches sent to multiple recipients. To do so, just enter all of the desired recipients’ e-mail addresses, separating with semi-colons.

Big tip: Name your resume searches with titles that mean something to you and will be easy for you to identify and locate when needed. For example, “Search 1″ might not ring a bell even a day after you create the search. But “Idaho RNs with 5+ yrs experience” will mean more to you if you’re looking for nurses.

Any questions?

When we stop to think about it, most of the little gadgets we desire do something for us. They may save us time, money, hassle, for instance. As an employer, your hiring wish list is likely long. But those little tools — the ones that make it easier for you to talk with candidates, store your needed information (and access it at a moment’s notice), and communicate with your fellow colleagues about your open positions — are often the most valuable.

The dish: One-click candidate communication

The gist: Within both “My Applications” in your Job Postings and “My Resumes” in your Resume Database access, you can communicate with candidates as well as co-workers with just a simple click. Instead of opening a dozen windows on your computer, logging into your e-mail system, or having to open your Word documents and figure out how and where to store necessary information, you can just click a link and communicate. The best part? You don’t even have to leave the site — you can do it all within “My CareerBuilder.”

Also known as: The complimentary continental breakfast of CareerBuilder’s Free Tools You Can Use.

Why: You can communicate easily and you can get what you need — and quickly. Also, pancakes! Choose from a variety of helpful tools, when and where you need them. The tools are always available — utilize them at your convenience.

How to get it: Click into a candidate’s application. Seeing the full-view version? Okay, good. A box with these tools can be found to the left-hand side of the application you are viewing.

Once you click into a candidate’s actual application, you can:

• Email a candidate directly – Click “Email candidate.” You will be directed to an email form. From here, you can also CC other people and include a previously created Letter (or enter new email text). Once you’re done, simply hit “send.” Congrats, you’ve just emailed a candidate, and it didn’t take ten minutes.
• Forward a candidate’s application – Click “Forward application.” This works in a very similar fashion to “email candidate”; you will be directed to an email form in which you can enter the email address of the person or persons you would like to forward the application to. You may also include a message if you like (or, if you’re not big on email etiquette, just leave it blank). Hit send. Done.
• Save an application to one of your folders – Click “Save to Folder.” You are then given the option to “Create a folder” to drop the application into, or select a previously created folder. Organize your applications easily, while they are still top of mind.

Why you need it: Communication with candidates and your colleagues easily and effectively — and organize your applications with just a click. Bonus? You can access your reviewed applications just as easily in My Folders. It’s not coffee delivery, but it’s darn close.

And now, you can cross one more thing off of that nagging little hiring wish list.

The push for community is only increasing on the Web sites we frequent. We want to share, interact, and learn from each other. We want to see Bob’s news link and say, “Hey, that’s cool!” or ask him a question. We want to make a statement; to stamp our opinions on news, products, and people.

So, what does this have to do with job candidates? Well, more than you may think.

The dish: CareerBuilder’s Application Flags, Ratings, Stages, and Notes Tools

The gist: You may already be organizing your applicants with these tools — but if you’re not, you need to be. Instead of wading through an endless sea of faceless applicants, organize your applications and make some sense of your recruitment process. You can use just one of the tools or all four of them, depending on your organizational needs. You can also share your input with other users on your account, so that you can review how candidates rate in each other’s eyes and make informed decisions about your hiring next-steps.

Also known as: The Lunchables of CareerBuilder.com Free Tools.

Why: These tools are so simple to use — yet they help your hiring process to be much more smooth and efficient. Best of all, with Flags, Ratings, Stages, and Notes, you can sort your applicants out without creating a post-it note avalanche at your desk — or worse yet, trying to remember it all in your head.

Let’s say you just had a phone interview with Sally Candidate. Now, you can quickly click into her application post-interview (but you’re probably already there), jot down “Went well, need to find out more about her specific Web editing; she is sending work samples by COB 2/20/09,” flag her as “Needs Further Review,” Rate her a 7, and set the Stage to “Interview 1.”  All in, oh, about 20 seconds.

How to get it: If you have applications in your “My CareerBuilder” account, you simply need to find the toolbar in “My Applications.” Once you click into and view an application, you will see all of these tools together on the right-hand side of the page.

To the left is a picture of the toolbar, with sample candidate input of My Flags: Unacceptable; My Rating: 10; Stage: None; and Notes: lm w/candidate.

Why you need it: You’re far too busy for a complicated organization process, and you need a system that integrates with your CareerBuilder applications. The beauty of these tools is that you can do as little or as much as you want with them. How you organize the process is up to you, and you may very well change your methods as you start using the tools. But once you find the level that works best with your process, you won’t know how you got by on My CareerBuilder without them.

Menu Options, Deconstructed: Each of the four tools, in a bit more detail.

My Flags: Choose from a Green Flag (Good Candidate), Yellow Flag (Needs Further Review), or Red Flag (Unacceptable).

My Rating: Choose a number from 1-10. You can decide if 1 or 10 represents the “best” mark.

Stage: Choose from None, General, Contacted, Pre-Screened, Interview 1, Interview 2, Offer, Hire, Rejected.

Notes: This is your place to write whatever you’d like to remember about a candidate and their application. It can be more action-oriented and list dates and corresponding actions that you took (left message, had interview, sent thank-you) or it can be notes about things you like about the candidate’s experience or have questions about. Really, you can make this space whatever you want and need it to be.

Satisfy your appetite: You can see a list of your applicants at any time – as can other users on your account, if you like. See a snapshot of candidates’ names and their corresponding Flags, Ratings, Stage, and Notes — all on one page for easy access.

You can start building your dream ratings system right…Now. Remember, it’s FREE. Thumbs up, yeah?

Questions?  Shoot us a comment below and we’ll do our best to answer.

The dish: Announcing a sneak peek into CareerBuilder.com’s new Applicant Explorer tool. Within seconds, a snapshot of information available on the Web appears next to your current favorite candidate’s resume. You immediately see the most useful and valuable information out there about that candidate, by doing less work than you are today.

The gist: Now, you can get a comprehensive collection of a candidate’s Web footprint from within CareerBuilder.com’s Resume Database.  This complimentary (yes, we said FREE) feature gives you access to relevant information about the candidate you’re courting, generated from a variety of sources:

• Social networking sites
• Professional and personal blogs
• Personal and corporate Web sites
• Press releases
• Discussion and forum postings
• Articles and news stories published online

Also known as: The deep-dish pizza of CareerBuilder.com Free Tools. Saucy, multi-layered, and oozing with all kinds of tasty toppings.

Why? Applicant Explorer gives you information about a candidate well beyond his or her resume. Take screening to a new level by uncovering that public yet hard-to-find information about candidates — in less time than it takes you to say “Job Offer.” You will no longer be tempted to throw that computer out the window. You may even – dare we say it – start enjoying your candidate searches.

How to get it: If you’re a subscriber to our Resume Database, you already have access — you just need to activate it.

Simple steps to access:

1. A user with manager rights on your CareerBuilder.com account must log in initially to activate your Applicant Explorer functionality.
2. Go to “My CareerBuilder and select “My Accounts” under “My Account Info.”
3. Select “Account Users” and then check the Applicant Explorer check box.
4. To start getting results, simply click into a resume. To the left of the resume, you will see Applicant Explorer details. From there, click into the details for deeper results.
5. Results are divided into “matched results” and “expanded results.” Matched results include professional and social networking sites. Expanded results include forums, personal or company blogs, and work done for previous companies.

Pairs best with: CareerBuilder.com Resume Database access, an open mind, and a desire for a new and more intelligent way to search.

Why job seekers love it: Job seekers are evolving along with employers and utilizing new tools every day to connect in the online space. As candidates leave their mark in various online places, they continue to define and refine their personal brand. A candidate’s professional image is a part of that personal brand, and Applicant Explorer is allowing these two worlds to more easily meet, for the first time.

Why you need it: Applicant Explorer isn’t about digging for dirt on candidates. It is, rather, about finding out what candidates are truly like, and getting a well-rounded picture of the person you may hire. A traditional resume only gives you a limited amount of info; much of what you really want to know involves what’s not on that single-page document.

Seeking out a mechanical engineer? Forums that a candidate has participated in are pulled into search results, so you can check out an in-depth industry question they may have asked, or read their thoughtful answer to someone else. Get an idea of a candidate’s interests and knowledge outside of the formal interview setting.

Satisfy your appetite: Start getting real and practical results that you may be missing from a resume.
Hiring a designer? Applicant Explorer allows you to quickly and easily see past projects and examples of a candidate’s work to get a sense of that candidate’s talent beyond what he or she was able to send you.

Big tip: Applicant Explorer reflects the direction toward which job seeker/employer behavior is moving, even if many of us don’t see it clearly quite yet. This is your chance to be a part of that change.

As more employees transition to job seekers, the influx of candidates interested in your job opportunity can be overwhelming.  For you as an actively hiring employer, a strong number of quality candidates is a good thing. But a mass of unorganized emails is similar to a mass of unorganized applicants to your job: massively unhelpful if you don’t have a way to organize them.

The dish: CareerBuilder.com Screeners

The gist: Screeners allow you to create a personalized questionnaire for job seekers to fill out as part of your application process. You see every applicant’s score after they apply to your job, as well as a breakdown of applicants’ answers in your “My Applications” section.

Also known as: The fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt of CareerBuilder.com Free Tools.

Why: With Screeners, you can cut right through unqualified résumés to get to the good stuff: those fruit-at-the-bottom candidates. Stellar candidates may make up a smaller portion of applicants, but they are worth seeking out.

How to get it: Screeners are easy to set up. Simply log into “My CareerBuilder.com” and go to “Screeners” under the “Manage Candidates” drop-down.

Simple steps to create:

1. Name your Screener
2. Determine who will have access to the Screener
3. Select the Screener level (Job-level, Account-level, or EEO)
4. Write a brief intro (if you like).

From there, you can create free-form or multiple choice questions for a particular posting, save it, and activate it.
Edit or inactivate Screeners at any time.

Pairs best with: A killer job posting that not only nails down the specifics of the job further but also  gives applicants insight into your company culture. The candidates who meet or exceed your expectations on the Screener and still apply to your position are not only pre-qualified but also interested. Now it’s your job to keep them that way. Tell them what makes your company unique, challenging, and worth working for. Sell them on it.

Why job seekers love it: If your company takes the steps to put Screeners into place, job seekers will see that your company is serious about finding good workers. It’s obvious that you care about the quality of your employees and want those interested in your position to know your expectations up front.

Why you need it: In addition to managing the sheer number of applicants, Screeners allow you to weed out unqualified candidates who apply to your job even though you totallysaidfiveyearsofexperiencewasrequired. By pre-qualifying your applicants, you’re saving yourself a lot of wasted time.

You can also define who has the “nice to haves” you may have asked about through Screener questions and who does not — making it a point to delve further for specifics during the interview.

Satisfy your appetite: All that time normally reserved for yelling at your computer screen can now be used for more productive things. Like catching up on your fave episodes of “30 Rock.” Or, you know, spending time with your friends and family!

Big tip: Be brief. We recommend asking 3-5 Screener questions. Candidates are likely applying to many jobs, even though it’s nice to think you’re the “only one.” Don’t write a novel, or you’ll likely experience a drop-off in applicants.

Late-night craving: You can also use a saved Screener again and again if you post similar jobs frequently. Tweak it whenever necessary.

Oh, and check out the white paper, Getting the Most from Online Pre-Screening Questions (PDF), for best practices.

Don’t forget — Screeners are FREE with your Job Postings. Enjoy.