Why your talent pool isn’t delivering quality talent

For years, hiring has been optimised around one moment: the application. We obsess over how many applications come in, how quickly we can process them, and how efficiently we can filter them down. But in doing so, we’ve overlooked the most influential part of the candidate journey, namely the period before someone ever clicks “apply.” This pre-application stage is where intent is formed and alignment is quietly decided. And right now, most employers are leaving it completely unmanaged.

Applications are no longer asignal of intent – pre-application behaviour is

Before applying, candidates are already signalling intent through behaviour:

• Reading role requirements
• Comparing across multiple roles
• Exploring content, FAQs, and social proof
• Speaking to or researching current employees
• Hesitating, saving, returning - or dropping off entirely

These behaviours happen days, weeks, sometimes months before an application lands.

The cost of ignoring pre-application

When pre-application behaviours are invisible, hiring teams face familiar problem:

• High volumes of low-quality applications
• Candidates applying “just in case”
• Drop-off mid-process from misaligned expectations
• Talent pools that look healthy on paper but don’t convert

The instinctive response is usually tighter filtering after application -more screening, more assessments, more rejections. But that treats the symptom, not the cause and adds to costs. The real issue is that candidates are making application decisionswithout guidance, context, or reflection.

Talent pooling needs to be experiential

For most employers, pre-application candidate engagement looks like a careers website and maybe a talent pool or talent ‘community’ bolted onto an HRIS. Careers websites offer an anonymous, one-way interaction and usually designed like a shop window – showing only the glossiest view of working forthe company and hiding the realities that might turn a candidate away.

At the same time, traditional talent pooling add-ons are nothing more than a mailing list. The exchange with candidates is transactional at best and does very little to drive quality candidates through the pipeline.

The pre-application stage shouldn’t be about pushing candidates to apply faster. It’sabout helping them decide whether applying makes sense at all. This iswhere intent-led hiring and experiential talent pooling reframes the journey.

Instead of asking, “How do we get more applicants?”
The question becomes, “How do we support better application decisions?”

That means recognising two distinct moments within pre-application:

1. The medium-term journey: nurturing before need

Not everyone who engages with your roles is ready to apply now.

• Some are exploring.
• Some are comparing.
• Some are interested in your company, but not thisrole.
• Some are planning for the future.

(Check out our 2026 Hiring Model for a deeper dive into emerging candidate personas.)

Traditional talent pools treat these people as names on a list, but an intent-first approach treats their behaviours as signals in motion.

By observing how candidates engage over-time (not just when they put their name down); what content they consume, what roles they return to, where curiosity deepens or fades, enables employers to spot alignment, potential and quality before application ever happens. It can even shine a light on who to target for specific communications or opportunities to further build intent.

By building in touchpoints and interactions, you can transform a talent pool from a staticdatabase into a living pipeline built on IntentSignals.

• Understanding motivation
• Identifying readiness
• Supporting progression at the right pace
  

2. The short-term moment: Pre-application intervention

Candidate see’s the job > candidate applies for the job.
Most employers do nothing here. The “Apply” button is unconditional.

An intent-led approach focused on the short-term moment before application introduces positive friction at this point, not to block candidates, but to guide them through a self-screening moment that encourages reflection, honesty, and a little bit of effort.

This kind of intervention:

• Reduces applications by up to 60%, in particular:
  • Speculative applications
  • AI-led, low intent candidates
  • Ineligible candidates
  • High drop-off risk candidates
• Cut down incomplete applications and withdrawals by up to 80%
• ‍Encourages self-screening – a more positive exit than a rejection
• Improves candidate confidence and readiness for the later stages
  

Crucially, it doesn’t exclude or judge and candidates can choose to progress and apply; or not. It simply helps candidates make a more informed choice and gives employers a more refined candidate pool to invest in.