Common Mistakes That Make You a Bad Actor on ClearanceJobs

Complaints about recruiter–candidate interactions can feel constant among cleared professionals—and recruiters would say the same in return. But in a job market dominated by passive candidates, talent professionals must be selective about which battles to fight, especially when debates center on who ghosted whom first.

A positive interaction with a potential candidate can pay dividends over the long term, even if they’re not ready to leave their current role. That goodwill may be remembered the next time they have a rough day at work—and suddenly become open to a conversation.

How to Be a Really Bad Actor on ClearanceJobs

Here are four ways that recruiters can be really bad actors on ClearanceJobs.com.

1. Posting Catch-All Positions You’re Not Hiring for Now

It’s easy to post a generic “All-Source Intelligence Analyst” opening on your careers page or ClearanceJobs profile if you have multiple fully funded contracts and proposal efforts that you are staffing. Pipelining is an essential recruitment function for Department of Defense and Intelligence Community missions where your programs may experience expansions and as you prepare for turnover.

But having positions where candidates are taking the time to formally apply only to learn that there isn’t actually an opening at your company for them can feel like a big-time waster punch in the face. The trick here is to be very explicit in your wording (i.e., “This contract has not yet been awarded and we are looking for key personnel to submit with our RFP response” or “This position is set to be awarded in 2024 with work to start shortly after”).

Candidates will appreciate the candor.

2. Ignoring Candidate Messages

The expectation when you send a broadcast or direct message to a candidate is that they reply. Whether they are interested or not, recruiters appreciate knowing that they were seen by the candidate. Talent professionals should do candidates the same courtesy when they inquire about your company.

It’s tough because recruiters are likely getting hundreds of messages a month and trying to prioritize responding to candidates that can fill openings today.

If the candidate reaches out letting you know they are interested in entry level cyber roles in the Ohio area, but you don’t have anything available at the current moment, a simple “We don’t have anything that matches your needs at the moment, but we encourage you to join our mailing list to stay in the know for future updates!” will suffice.

Copy and paste can be your friend, and use the personalized note feature in your network settings to immediately engage with people you connect with.

3. Having an Incomplete Company Page

As recruiters are evaluating their online presence and what potential candidates see when they come across your company profile, ensure that you are linked to all of your social media accounts, have a complete summary of your company and its capabilities, share content on job openings, benefits, or program wins, and include a full list of openings by opting for a job scraper that duplicates your careers page daily to hiring needs on ClearanceJobs.

If a candidate comes across a dead profile, they may move on to a company with a little more engagement and excitement.

4. Not Being Engaged

You should be logging in, posting daily about positions you are hiring for, and checking the community feed to view the candidates looking for work. Active ClearanceJobs users live here and are desperate for a direct connection to you.