CDL driver recruiting, like in any industry, is rife with potential missteps. While it’s important to build out a strong recruiting process, streamline your application, and bolster your follow-up workflows, this doesn’t always mean you’re not missing anything important.
While you may know that your team should make some changes in your recruiting process, it’s a little harder to actually know when it’s time to implement these new changes.
Here are some red flags to look out for during the recruiting process to deliver the best applicant experience possible.
Red flag #1: Candidates are treated like numbers, not people.
As your team is going through the recruiting process, make sure you keep tabs on how your team is treating candidates. If applicants are slipping through the cracks, or having to wait for days to hear back from your team, or having to waste hours on mindless applications, then your process is treating them as numbers in the system. It’s time to take a step back and reassess the situation.
How can you make your application process more candidate-centric? What are some CDL driver-specific steps you can add to appeal to your audience? How can you streamline your process even more to cut out any non-essential stages? With these red flags informing your new application process, your team will be able to attract more applicants and convert more new drivers.
Red flag #2: Your candidates are going dark before you can follow up.
If your candidates are going dark or falling out of the line of communication, there is a simple reason – your team isn’t following up fast enough. It shouldn’t be the responsibility of the candidate to sit around waiting for your team to reach out. Your team needs to contact on any new candidates as soon as possible, and immediately follow up during the application process.
If there is any question about who’s turn it is to reach out, the answer is always… yours! Take advantage of your company being top-of-mind for drivers and make contact as soon as an application is submitted for best results.
Red flag #3: Your team is asking candidates the same questions – over and over again.
If your recruiters are experiencing multiple conversations with candidates complaining of having to answer the same questions over and over, listen to them. Today’s modern recruiting experience shouldn’t be full of repetitive workflows or questions.
Make sure your team is leveraging a modern Applicant Tracking Solution (ATS) to keep track of all applicant responses and answers. This way, no matter who a candidate is speaking to on your side, everyone will know where they are in the application process, what they’ve answered in the past, and what questions still need to be asked. Trust us – your applicants will thank you.
Red flag #4: Candidates are asking questions they should be able to easily find the answers to.
This can be a tricky issue for CDL driver recruiters, and is a huge red flag for your overall recruiting process. If your candidates consistently ask the same questions over and over, and if your recruiters sense a pattern in these ‘easy’ questions, then you’re probably not sharing the right information on your website.
Driver recruiting is all about transparency – transparency into your business, your driver satisfaction, and your turnover rates – and drivers expect to know about these things early on in the application process. Double-check your ‘About Us’ or ‘Company’ page on your website to make sure you’re answering these common questions.
Red flag #5: Your team is receiving a ton of feedback, but it’s all just being ignored.
Asking for feedback from applicants and then ignoring it when it comes through (either because it’s negative or just because you don’t see it right away) is a huge red flag for companies of all industries and verticals, but for CDL driver recruiters it can be a huge missed opportunity as well.
Instead of ignoring negative feedback, use it instead as a free audit session and update any offending processes accordingly. If candidates provide positive feedback, use this as a new best practice or benchmark to scale success.
Red flag #6: You’re attracting a ton of new applications, but your retention rates are seriously dropping.
The CDL driver recruiting process doesn’t end once a driver accepts an offer. Retention is a huge issue for the trucking industry, and with so much competition, companies are constantly battling each other for qualified applicants.
Keep your drivers happy and keep your trucks on the road by building a company culture of mutual respect and loyalty. While this relationship starts with the application process, it continues throughout the entire employment lifecycle. For recruiters, this means ensuring things like compliance updates, checkpoints, and employment verifications are all easily completed with minimal manual input from drivers.
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