Jobseekers shunning lengthy recruitment processes: report

Almost half of Australian jobseekers have withdrawn their candidature from a position due to a lengthy recruitment process, according to a new survey.

Recruitment consultancy Robert Walters recently surveyed 800 professionals, the results highlighting jobseekers’ extreme dislike of lengthy recruitment processes and the subsequent impact on their prospective employers.

The survey reveals 79% of respondents are turned off by a lengthy recruitment process, while 47% have withdrawn their candidature because recruitment was taking too long.

According to the survey, 77% of respondents believe the recruitment process should take less than a month, with 71% believing they should only have to do two interviews prior to a job offer.

Meanwhile, 77% of jobseekers say the personality of the interviewers strongly influences their perceptions of their potential employer, with 45% admitting they had withdrawn from a recruitment process because they didn’t like the interviewer.

Robert Walters managing director James Nicholson says skills shortages mean quality candidates have multiple jobs to choose from, so employers should act fast to secure the best employees.

“Organisations that are slow to make decisions, or fail to properly sell the employment promise, find it impacts their ability to attract the best talent available,” Nicholson says.

“It is critical that employers examine their recruitment processes to ensure they are streamlined and clearly defined, and that the people involved in the process are best equipped to represent the organisation in a positive light.”

Nicholson’s comments follow recent findings from The Sustain Group consulting firm, which surveyed 296 jobseekers in addition to 91 hiring managers and 32 recruitment consultants.

According to the survey, more than a quarter of recruiters say they have received more than 100 applications for one position, putting pressure on employers to speed up the recruitment process.

Matthew Tukaki, chief executive of The Sustain Group, says employers who procrastinate during the recruitment process risk losing a desired candidate to another offer.

As employers scramble to recruit the right staff, another report by HR firm Randstad shows Australians are among the most optimistic in the world about finding a job.

The global survey, based on a minimum sample size of 400 interviews per country, reveals 81% of Australian respondents say they are confident about finding a job, while 80% say they are confident of finding a comparable job.

The survey also shows the Australian workforce to be one of the most mobile in the world, with 21% of respondents indicating they have changed jobs in the last six months. Of the 29 countries surveyed, only six other countries experienced a higher rate of churn.

The report reveals 10% of Australian workers are actively looking for a new job and only 7% are concerned they may lose their current job.

Randstad chief executive Fred van der Tang says the winners in the war for talent will be the organisations that have invested in their “employer brand”.

“While offering a competitive salary is still very important, increasingly we are seeing jobseekers attracted to employers who promote enticements such as good training and development opportunities, a strong corporate culture and flexible working conditions,” he says.

According to van der Tang, it is also important for organisations to get a sense of how they are viewed externally.

“Successful organisations know employer branding is predominantly about how jobseekers view the organization – not how the organisation sees itself,” he says.

This article first appeared on StartupSmart, Australia’s top site for start-up entrepreneurs