Shortlisted but not selected? Location could be the culprit!

By Apeksha Kaushik, TimesJobs.com Bureau

While organisations offer re-location bonus to selected candidates, many times employees resign to return back to their home location after a short duration only. Thus, companies today are becoming cautious and many relevant candidatures are rejected simply on the basis of demographics

Demographics matter to any aspect of running a business and hiring employees for a firm is no exception. Location, of the many demographic factors, is a prominent one. Following are some scenarios when applicants don't sail through the selection process because of the location factor:

Scenario 1: For jobs that require strong communication skills in a certain local language, for efficient disposal of the expected responsibilities (for instance, in direct B2C sales types of jobs), candidates from a specific region are preferred.

Scenario 2: When both the husband and wife are working. In such a situation the companies show caution in hiring either one as there is uncertainty regarding the re-location of the spouse. There have been instances in the past where candidates after joining and working for a few months, were craving to go back from where they came just to join the family. Naturally firms are unwilling to take such risks.

Scenario 3: When companies feel the re-location and adjustment costs will be too high. Eg, a candidate fits the bill of a particular job but lives in NCR and the new job is based in Mumbai. In such a situation, the company will show reluctance or even reject the candidature simply because the cost of re-location and final adjustment is way too high. A 3BHK flat on rent in Gurgaon/Noida will cost Rs 30,000 per month, but to maintain the same standard of living in Mumbai may cost an individual a lakh plus every month.

Scenario 4: Jobs that entail comparatively lower compensations (courier delivery boy jobs or driver jobs). Applicants who're locally based are ideally selected as the overall cost of living of such candidates is likely to be less than their outstation counterparts.

Scenario 5: In case a job requires specialised know-how of a certain location or region, outstation candidates who aren't well versed with the nooks and corners of the city/region may not sail through the selection process.

Scenario 6: Organisations also use demographical trends to identify locations with a specific type of professional/economic specialty. For eg, the best breed of diamond professionals in India are mostly found in Gujarat. Hence, applications that are not from Gujarat won't sail through the selection process at firms that make it a point to entertain applicants only from the state.

(With inputs from Sidharth Agarwal, director, Spectrum Talent Management and Mayank Chandra, managing partner, Antal International)