With the best talent always extremely sought-after regardless of market conditions, employers that ensure a high-quality experience for candidates applying for jobs also stand the best chance of securing the most skilled professionals available.

This Robert Walters whitepaper offers employers advice on how they can manage their brand during the recruitment process. We explore job seeker preferences – from when they first apply for roles and are being interviewed, to their expectations around how long the process takes.

Based on survey responses from more than 1,300 professionals and 250 hiring managers, the key to shaping the overall perception of an organisation is clear communication of the employer brand through all interactions with both existing and potential employees.

In particular, the experience of candidates before, during and after the recruitment process can play a significant part in forming common held opinions of a business.

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Employers that ensure a high-quality experience for candidates applying for jobs also stand the best chance of securing the most skilled professionals available.

Key findings:

• 88% of job seekers talk to friends and colleagues about their experiences during the recruitment process
• 72% say lengthy recruitment processes put them off a job
• 67% of job seekers believe they should have to undergo a maximum of two job interviews before receiving an offer; 95% think they should have to attend three or less
• 89% of job seekers have applied for a job and not received a response
   

Quality of job advertisements

To attract the best quality candidates, employers need to ensure they produce job advertisements that are professionally presented, well-written (i.e. without grammar or spelling errors) and provide an accurate and interesting description of the role.

The content of job advertisements has a significant impact on how job seekers perceive an employer and the vacancy in question.

Specifically, the majority of respondents say that the description of the role, salary and benefits, description of the company, that the employer is named and the quality of grammar/language used influence their decision to submit a formal application.

Length of the recruitment process

The majority of job seekers claim that the speed of response during, length and ease of the recruitment process influence their decision to accept a role.

The overall speed and length of the recruitment process can impact the perception of an organisation and its employer brand.

Job seekers believe a full recruitment process should take less than a month to complete.

Opinions of existing employees

Many job seekers regard an organisation’s existing employees as key advisors on a prospective employer – our survey reveals that 46% of candidates speak to staff when researching a company at the start of the recruitment process.

However, the growing popularity of staff review websites and social networking sites, such as LinkedIn, means that job seekers do not need extensive personal networks to gain access to this information and reputations can grow quickly. 

Job seekers value the contribution of recruitment consultancies

Our survey reveals that most job seekers regard recruitment consultancies as a key part of the recruitment process, recognising that they can provide access to positions not advertised elsewhere and appreciating the strength of their relationships with employers. 

With only 11% of organisations surveyed rating their hiring processes as ‘excellent’, many seemingly require guidance in managing their recruitment procedures.

About the Robert Walters Insight Series

This whitepaper is the fifth in the Robert Walters Insight Series. The Insight Series is a range of thought-leading whitepapers aimed at assisting employers in their recruitment strategies and helping them to address key talent management issues.