'Cos not responding to job applications risk losing talent'

Companies not responding to job applications risk losing talent forever, as 55 per cent of candidates surveyed said they will not apply again to an organisation that has not responded to their previous requests, says a study.
According to the study by TimesJobs.Com, organisations may feel deluged by job applications but today's candidates expect some form of acknowledgement or response on their applications, even if they haven't been accepted.
Around 48 per cent employees said they send out 10-20 job applications a month but organisations apparently only respond to applicants who are shortlisted - leaving a massive talent pool of disgruntled candidates.

This sentiment is more evident among IT, automobile and retail sector employees, with over 70 per cent of them considering most organisations as 'inconsiderate' when it comes to valuing job applicants, the study said.
"Not receiving feedback on their applications is not what these well-informed professionals expect from organisations today. You may not just lose their personal interest, but in turn, they may spread their disappointment among their peers with negative word-of-mouth about your company," TimesJobs.Com COO Vivek Madhukar said.
Around 55 per cent middle-level employees and 41 per cent senior-level employees say they will apply again only if the company responds to their previous application even if they have been rejected.

However, 60 per cent junior-level employees admit they will continue to apply again even if the company does not acknowledge, respond to their applications, the study said.

Don't Make Spelling Mistakes
According to the majority (55%) of employers surveyed, avoiding grammatical errors and spelling mistakes are essential in making a decent first impression, and these mistakes are also the first thing that recruiters notice in a CV.
Highlight What Matters to the Job Secondly, almost half of the employers feel a CV should reflect the candidate's competencies and skills in performing the functions that the job requires. As 46% employers say a CV which doesn't have details specific to the job role a candidate has applied for is the biggest let down for the recruiter.

"Candidates must leverage all resources available to them, TimesJobs, for instance, has some incredible tools for candidates to read reviews of companies, get insider interview tips, assess their own skills and benchmark their salary expectations. Highlighting aspects of their work relevant to the job role and company further displays their interest and eagerness to join the new organization," adds Nilanjan Roy.
Not More Than two Pages In addition, recruiters are simply not interested in a CV that is longer than two pages.
Nearly 43% say the length of CV matters the most. Almost 80% employers find a two-page to be the ideal length and 20% even preferred a single-page CV.

Format for Clarity
Over 35% also give extra points to the readability aspects of a CV. Bad formatting such as abrupt paragraph breaks, overuse/underuse of bolds and italics and too many fonts are other annoying elements in a CV, state 33% surveyed recruiters.