Quality over quantity: How to attract the right candidates
If you’re hiring right now, chances are you’ve noticed a shift: many companies are receiving more applications than ever. Part of that is market dynamics. In many industries, we’ve moved from an employee market to a more employer-driven one. But another factor might be even more powerful: applying has become incredibly easy. With AI tools and “one-click applications”, candidates can send out dozens of applications in minutes – sometimes without even reading the job ad properly.
At first glance, that sounds like a good thing. More applications should mean more choice – and more choice should mean better hires. Right?
In reality, high application volume often creates the opposite effect. Recruiters and hiring managers end up drowning in CVs, screening becomes rushed and inconsistent and strong candidates get lost in the noise. Instead of speeding up hiring, it slows everything down.
So the real question these days isn’t: How do we get more applicants? It’s: How do we attract the right candidates – and increase the quality of applications, not the volume?
What does “quality of applications” actually mean?
Before you can improve the quality of applications, it helps to define what “quality” means in your specific context. High-quality applications tend to show four things:
- Fit for the role: The candidate has the right skills, experience and seniority for what you’re hiring for. They understand the core requirements and have done similar work before or can convincingly demonstrate transferable experience.
- Fit for your company stage and context: A candidate can be excellent on paper and still be wrong for your environment. Early-stage companies require a different kind of mindset than corporates: more ambiguity, less structure and often more “hands-on” execution. Quality applications reflect an understanding of what your company stage demands.
- Motivation and intent: Strong candidates don’t just apply, they choose. A quality applicant makes clear why they’re interested in this role and this company. That doesn’t mean every candidate writes a love letter. But there is a difference between a generic application and one that shows genuine intent.
- Signal over noise: With AI and automated applications on the rise, this matters more than ever. A quality application includes real signals: relevant examples, thoughtful answers and proof of understanding. Low-quality applications often look polished but generic: copy-pasted, overly broad or suspiciously “perfect” without substance.
Why too many applications may hurt your hiring process
A high number of applications can look like a success, but it often creates problems that slow hiring down and reduce decision quality. First, it’s simply inefficient. Screening hundreds of CVs takes time and focus and that cost adds up quickly, especially in small teams where hiring managers are already stretched.
But the bigger issue is what volume does to your process: Screening becomes rushed and inconsistent, strong candidates get lost in the noise, feedback loops slow down, candidate experience suffers and your hiring teams might burn out because the sheer number of applications drains their energy and confidence in the process.
Why you’re attracting the wrong candidates and what to do about it
If you’re consistently receiving a high volume of low-quality applications, it’s usually not a candidate problem, but a signalling problem. The way your role is defined, communicated and distributed shapes who feels encouraged to apply.
Here are some common reasons application quality is low and how you can fix them:
1. Your job ad is too vague
❌ When the role could describe five different jobs, it will attract five different audiences.
✅ What to do instead:
- Avoid “we’ll know it when we see it” and define your criteria early
- Be specific about scope, responsibilities and what success looks like in the first 6-12 months
- Name what the role is not (e.g. “This is not a pure strategy role”)
- Speak directly to your ideal candidate (“You’ll enjoy this role if…”)
2. Your requirements send mixed signals
❌ Classic example: “junior role, 5+ years experience”. This either repels strong candidates or attracts the wrong ones.
✅ What to do instead:
- Calibrate seniority internally before publishing
- Use clear must-haves vs nice-to-haves
- Include salary range where possible as it filters misaligned candidates early
3. Your messaging doesn’t match your reality
❌ If your ad sounds corporate but your company requires high ownership and ambiguity tolerance, you’ll create a mismatch – even if the CVs look great.
✅ What to do instead:
- Be transparent about company stage, challenges and trade-offs
- Clarify what kind of person thrives in your environment (and who might not); don’t be afraid of repelling the wrong candidates
- Link culture and values to the role, not just the company
4. You’re using the wrong channels (or too many)
❌ Posting everywhere might increase reach, but it often reduces relevance.
✅ What to do instead:
- Choose channels intentionally (communities, niche boards, curated newsletters)
- Optimise for the right reach, not maximum reach
- Activate your network: employees, alumni, investors, advisors
5. Applying is too easy — so you get “spray and pray” applications
❌ If no effort is required, you’ll naturally attract AI-generated copy-paste applications (👉 on a different note: here’s more about how to make your hiring process “AI-safe”)
✅ What to do instead:
- Add light but intentional application hurdles (2-3 thoughtful questions)
- Offer optional video submissions (especially for customer-facing roles)
- If a specific language matters, publish the ad in that language instead of posting it only in English
How to measure whether you’re moving in the right direction
Quality can feel subjective, but you can track it through your recruiting funnel. A few indicators that tend to be helpful:
- Interview-to-application ratio: If quality improves, this ratio should go up: fewer applications overall, but more candidates worth speaking to.
- Time-to-hire (with context): A high volume of low-quality applications often increases time-to-hire. Better quality typically speeds up decisions because there’s less noise to screen.
- Hiring manager satisfaction: A simple check-in after each process (“How strong was this pipeline?”) often reveals issues early.
- Quality of hire (early signals): How quickly does the person ramp up? Are expectations met after 3-6 months? Would you hire them again for the same role?
The goal isn’t to obsess over metrics. It’s to use them as a reality check: are you building a pipeline that leads to strong hires or just generating volume?
Quality is a choice
In the current recruiting landscape, application volume is often a misleading signal and optimising for it can easily create noise, delays and frustration on all sides. For many roles, the real competitive advantage is building a process that attracts fewer but better-matched candidates. So here’s the key question to take away: what would move the needle more in your next hire – 50 additional applications, or five truly relevant ones?
☎️ If you’d like our help to improve the quality of the applications your organisation attracts, don’t hesitate to book a free call with Julia.
© 2023 Julia Reis Consulting
