Shunned jobseekers turn into brand bashers

- One in four has been badly treated by a prospective employer

- 53% of job seekers will not purchase products and services if they have been badly treated

- 55% tell at least three people about their bad experience

Poor recruitment practices are damaging brands, turning off potential employees and losing customers ñ thatís according to new research.

The study by Capital Consulting indicates that companies are not handling the recruitment process as well as they could, with one in four (23%) job seekers saying they have been badly treated when applying for a job.

Not only do poor recruitment practices alienate the individual job seeker, they will tell others. Thirty one per cent of people tell between three and five people about their bad experience, and 24% of people tell more than six people. A very vocal 10% tell more than ten others, and one per cent will go as far as venting their spleen on the internet by blogging about their bad experience.

And they donít just talk about their bad experience. People are prepared to hit back by withdrawing their custom. A staggering 53% of job seekers actively avoid buying products and services from a company that treats them poorly, with almost a quarter of those (23%) declaring that they will never purchase any product or service from the company again, even if it means going without.

Yet according to Government figures* more businesses need to attract more talented workers than ever. The average number of job vacancies for the three months to January 2007 was 607,900 - up 7,300 on the previous quarter and up 6,200 over the year.

Marisa Kacary, Marketing Director at Capital Consulting, says: ìWith the war for talent raging more fiercely than ever, a good employer brand is increasingly critical to an organisationís commercial success. Recruitment is often an overlooked opportunity to reinforce your consumer brand experience. A huge amount of money and effort is directed at delivering brand strategies to existing and potential customers, but that same attention is clearly not being carried through to current and potential employees. As our research shows, if you treat people poorly during the recruitment process you could lose them as customers and they are only too happy to tell others about their bad experience with your organisation too.î

The main gripes from job seekers about the recruitment process involved a lack of communication. One in two (53%) people were aggrieved that no reason was given for not being offered the job. Fifty one per cent of people said the lack of feedback following an interview was their main irritation. And almost half (49%) of all job seekers find the lack of acknowledgment of their application the most annoying part of the recruitment process.

Other findings included:

- 34% say they are asked irrelevant or stupid questions at interview

- 30% are asked to do irrelevant tests

- 26% of job seekers donít like dealing with third parties and recruitment agencies ñ men (30%) dislike this more than women (20%)

- 32% of people say they are sent details for jobs that do not meet their skills or salary expectations.