A new survey released by Meritocracy, the platform which optimises the recruitment process, reveals that millennials put the working environment first when exploring a new role. The OnePoll survey commissioned by Meritocracy features fundamental considerations for applicants seeking a ‘best-fit’ career within a company including details around growth opportunities, value propositions and ethos.
66.4% of respondents said they would be much more likely to apply for a job if they knew in advance what the workplace environment was like, with a huge 71% of women citing this as an area that would encourage them to apply for an advertised job. The workplace environment is also a key factor when job hunting for millennials according to 81% of 18-24 year olds and 35-30 (57%) year olds who would rather gain an understanding of the workplace environment ahead of employment. When hunting for a job the information that candidates would most like to have are details about the working environment (55%) and what future prospects hold within the company (56.6%).
Although job hunters in all regions expressed requiring more insight into working environments applicants in Northern Ireland (81%), Scotland (59%), Wales (58%) as well as London (58%) are particularly concerned about not having any information on potential work environments.
Regarding the job hunt itself, it has been revealed that over half of respondents thought that the time taken to respond to multiple job applications was the biggest pain point, especially in an era where snobbing from the HR department is on the increase with a lack of response even post interview. Ironically over 50% of respondents think that it takes too much time to complete multiple job applications while equally, according to HR teams, employees believe that they receive too many applications which are delayed in the bottleneck we know as ‘process’.
It therefore comes as no surprise that those looking to get on the career path or change careers would gladly pay an average of £6.75 per vacancy to be advised on job openings that perfectly match professional goals and where there is a strong likelihood of being called for an interview. Over two thirds of respondents said they would consider paying for a service that assisted them in their job hunt, with men willing to pay more than women per vacancy (£7.85 against £5.94 on average).
Nearly half of all job seekers also cite lack of information on how working for an employer will be as a bug bear when job hunting, alongside a lack of knowledge on how a career could progress. 56% said that they would be more likely to apply to a company if they had a better idea of future career developments. This also has a regional impact with over 70% of job hunters in the East Midlands and in the South East would be more likely to apply for a job where they understood the growth opportunities available to them.