Human resources departments continue to face challenges during their hiring sprees, but are they giving every applicant the fair chance he or she deserves?
Americans who are considered unemployed fall under two categories: unemployed and long-term unemployed. While this seems like one in the same, Businessweek found that those who have been out of work for over six months are less likely than new job seekers to get a call back.
“Applicants unemployed for seven months need to send an average of 35 resumes to online job postings to receive just one interview, compared to just 10 resumes per interview for those unemployed for only one month,” Northeastern University’s Rand Ghayyad wrote in his report.
Because of this widespread problem, the Society of Human Resources Management and President Barack Obama are aiming to work together to bridge the gap among long-term unemployed Americans. HR professionals are urged to read the pamphlet SHRM provided to see if they are able to readjust their HR software solutions to add more long-term unemployed applicants to the interview list.
“Long-term unemployed workers need this chance to rejoin the workforce,” Obama said during his meeting with SHRM president Hank Johnson. “So we need to find ways to look past long stretches of unemployment and see what the real skills and talent are there.”
If your department uses HR software solutions to discard applications that show significant gaps in unemployment, it may be time to readjust because your company could be missing out on someone who is determined to get back to work.