Ahead of ISE’s Apprenticeships Conference where Connectr explains how it is managing application volumes with British Airways, Simon Reichwald shares advice.
ISE reports application volumes have remained at record highs for the last two years with 140 per vacancy.
This is having very real implications for employers in terms of recruitment costs, resource, candidate quality at later stages, and candidate experience. The causes of these unmanageable volumes are a weaker labour market and AI in the hands of candidates.
We have identified four job hunting personas for 2026
The Casual has low intent and low curiosity about the role. They are speculative appliers, often simply browsing without the driving force behind them to commit. These candidates have a high likelihood to leave applications unfinished or ghost you later on.
The Optimiser has high intent to get a job, but not necessarily your job. They will use every tool at their disposal to maximise the volume of application they make and the speed at which they can make them. Thanks to AI tools, they can look really good in those early stages, but when you start interacting with them in person, weakness and lack of connection to the role start to show.
The Explorer is super curious and will do lots of research but is not completely convinced enough to step out of their existing role. These candidates likely have just the behaviours and experience you want, but your employer brand, EVP and candidate experience needs to do the work to convert them.
The Purpose Driven is very focused on securing the right role for them, and will be values-led in their decision to choose you and apply. They are responsive, proactive candidate and you want lots of these in your recruitment pipeline.
How are employers responding?
Using AI to assess applications is still too fraught with significant risk, so we are seeing:
⏳ Closing applications early - sorry if you are someone who likes to consider and research before you apply
📈 Raising benchmarks on tests because we know these are largely a tool to reduce numbers - sorry if you are a great fit in behaviour and attitude
🪜 Adding in extra steps or stages, costly second round interviews or time consuming video interviews to reduce numbers - sorry to the recruiters behind the scenes spending hours reviewing and assessing.
A new solution
Our pre-application IntentSignals suite is both fair and ensures you have the best suited candidates in your recruitment process. We have found that it can significantly reducing volumes of poor fit candidates and improve the conversion of those in process.
By being ‘positively honest’ with potential candidates about the role they are considering or wanting to apply for, and encouraging self-reflection on the role, everyone can make a well informed self-select ‘in’ or ‘out’ decision – BEFORE they apply.
If the role is not right for them, they don’t have to waste time applying and going through the recruitment process. If the role is right for them, their ‘intent’ grows and they ‘stay the course’ through your recruitment process.
What results have we seen?
- As much as a 60% reduction in poor fit candidates
- Those in the process are three to four times more likely to progress to final stages
- 88% reduction in incomplete applications
- 36% reduction in withdrawals
- Record breaking video interview scores
- More top scoring candidates at final stage
- And crucially, no adverse impact on candidates when it comes to diversity.
Addressing application volumes, is not about interventions post application, the horse has already bolted. Instead, the innovation is in addressing this issue pre-application.
It is about being bold and not succumbing to vanity metrics (application volumes) but instead being straight with potential candidates and empowering them to make decisions based on accurate and authentic information.
This approach does not just drive efficiencies in your talent acquisition, with great, well-suited hires, it also strengthens your employer brand.
You can find out more at the forthcoming ISE Apprenticeships Conference on 4 March, including how this is working for British Airways.