We all know it is important to keep the best candidates happy throughout the application process. The best talent means the best ROI. But what are the main frustrations for candidates when they apply for positions? And what can we do to improve this? 360 Resourcing recently conducted a survey focusing on candidate job seeking trends, their main frustrations, and their view of using recruitment agencies. Around 350 individuals completed the survey, of which 86% had searched for a new position in the last 3 months.
The first key discovery was that 77% of respondents indicated that their biggest frustration was the lack of feedback from an application. Although as recruitment professionals it is hard to provide each applicant with individual feedback, it is critical that candidates are at least provided with feedback as to whether they have been successful or not. This often goes ignored, but this is comparable to leaving your customer unattended at the till. It is important you provide a good representation of your company brand in the job market and the best candidate journey possible if you want to attract the best talent.
The second biggest frustration was a lack of salary information specified on a job advert. Nearly half (48%) of all candidates indicated this to be a barrier. It is understandable that a lot of employers want to advertise their position as ‘competitive’, but this must be treated with some caution. Candidates like to know what the salary bracket may be as not to waste their own time, or the recruiter’s time. A lack of information on salary may also put candidates off applying altogether. Will the lack of salary information put that star candidate off who could make a huge impact to your organisation?
Respondents in the survey were also asked to rate their experience of using recruitment agencies, guided by the Net Protocol Score (NPS), a customer loyalty rating which classifies respondents as either detractors (1-6), passive (7-8), or promoters (9-10). On average, 9% were ‘promoters’, 30% were in the ‘passive’ range, and 61% were ‘detractors’.
So what can recruitment agencies do better? Most of all, respondents wanted more regular contact & updates on the recruitment process, with 61% of respondents selecting this answer. Interestingly, 40% of respondents wanted agencies to disclose the company they are recruiting for. This also supports the finding at 87% of candidates wanted to know the identity of the employer when they are browsing jobs on the job-boards. 360 Resourcing mainly put this down to addressing the frustrations outlined above, by providing automatic feedback on application status and providing branded advertisement options for our clients.
Stephen Rundell, Managing Director of 360 Resourcing, commented: “As a barometer for our industry, the survey is not good reading for recruitment agencies which is why we have taken the unique decision to restructure our approach to service delivery for both our clients and our candidates. By being one of the first businesses of our kind to engage a dedicated Client Services Manager and implement an NPS approach to service delivery, our focus has moved most distinctly from sales to quality.
We fully believe that if we get the quality right, the commercial benefits will follow. Our candidate NPS Promoter score at 23% compared to the survey average of 9%, is a testimony of how far we have come and indeed how much further we can still go”, he concluded.
