How big of a missed opportunity is your online job application black hole?

Despite continued conversations around "candidate engagement" and "applicant experience," employers still wait until late in a job-seeker's application process to proactively engage them . Yet, with a 60% drop off in their online application process, something must change.

By the time a job-seeker becomes an applicant, they will have expended energy finding your job-posting, reading your job descriptions, considering their own qualifications, and filling out the application itself. So far, the lion's share of the work has fallen on the shoulders of the applicant.

Giving individuals that much time (and that many tasks!) before engaging them is reckless. Without proactive engagement, applicants are left to formulate their own opinions about your employment brand without your guidance. And unless they make it to the next round of your hiring process, this may be the only interaction they have with your company.

But employers can shift this balance by committing to sharing the workload of online applications.

Imagine a job-seeker landing on your careers page — but instead of being asked to navigate your careers portal, was instead asked to take a personality assessment. The personality science in the background then serves up a list of jobs they should apply for based on their interests and preferences.

Despite the seemingly small step the employer takes in this example, there are massive differences between the two user journeys described above.

For example, the job openings exploration to application process has been diminished to seconds. Additionally, job-seekers are custom-served positions for which they are well-suited for. Furthermore, employers have allowed job-seekers to embark on a mini journey of self-discovery, diving into their strengths, challenges, ideal work environments, and deeper personality traits. This engagement actually then affords the employer an opportunity to explain WHY they believe a job-seeker is well-equipped for specific jobs as they can reference quantified personality data. Just like that, you have engaged job seekers and an increase in your career-site visitor to applicant ratio.

Employers also reap the rewards of social sharing. Delighted applicants become word-of-mouth evangelists for their employment brand. Even those who don't end up with jobs at your company go back to their friends and family about the incredible application process they just went through.

Employers derive benefits as well. Quantified personality data allows recruiters to quickly sort applicants by fit. Interviewers can plan out better questions. Candidates can also be pre-screened for key factors like performance, fit, and loyalty.

But all of this begins with employers engaging with job-seekers earlier and earlier in their job search process. The moment a job-seeker applies to a job cannot be viewed as the first step in the employer/applicant journey. Thinking that way leaves too much to chance and too much room for much-needed improvement.

This post originally appeared on Glassdoor