5 Scary Stats About the Recruitment Process [Infographic]

Unfortunately, many companies are standing out to candidates in a bad way, hurting their employer brand and their ability to hire. Jobvite rounded up some great stats about the recruitment process and put them together in a handy infographic for your viewing pleasure. Check out some of the scariest stats and see the full infographic below:

43% of job seekers say job ads mismatch actual positions. Tweet This

Your job description is a key component of a candidate’s decision to consider your job opportunity and, ultimately, to accept it. A description that misrepresents the job could cause a candidate to drop out of your recruitment process or – worse – to quit shortly after being hired.

According to BambooHR, 26% of people who leave their jobs within 6 months of being hired do so because the work was different than expected. This means your job will be open longer and you will have to spend more of your team’s time interviewing.

Start your recruitment process off on the right foot by writing great job descriptions that accurately represent your opportunity. This will save you, and your direct hire agencies, a lot of headaches.

38% of job seekers have told friends and family about bad application experiences.  Tweet This

Whether you’re collecting applications or working with a direct hire agency (or both), make it easy for candidates to express interest in your company. The most in-demand candidates, particularly if they’re passive candidates, have plenty of choices about where to work and may not consider an opportunity if you make it difficult for them to do so. What’s more, 42% of candidates who had bad applicant experiences would never seek employment from those companies again.

Your application experience can affect your employer brand and your talent pipeline – so make sure it leaves a positive impression. If you ask candidates to submit a resume, fill out an application, and submit an assignment prior to being considered for the role, you may be missing out on great candidates – and damaging your reputation in the process.

79% of candidates never receive any updates or information after applying.  Tweet This

Due to the high volume of applications many employers receive, they often don’t update applicants on the status of their application. This provides a negative candidate experience because it indicates that your time is more valuable than your applicant’s time. Rather than allowing your applications to fall into the black hole, automate a few follow up emails.

Your initial email could be a confirmation that you’ve received the candidate’s application, and a brief note on what to expect next. Once you’ve had a chance to review applications, send an email to each applicant that won’t be moving on to the next phase, thanking them for their interest and encouraging them to keep an eye out for future positions.

When it comes to candidates submitted through your agency, however, you should always send personalized feedback to your agency for each candidate. This helps your agency fine-tune their search so they can send you the best candidates on the market. Make it clear to your agency that you expect them to provide feedback to each candidate they submitted – their actions can impact your employer brand just as much as your own.

30% of job seekers find company representatives to be unknowledgeable about positions.  Tweet This

Job candidates are interviewing you as much as you are interviewing them, so it’s important that each member of your team is prepared for the interview. Part of the interview preparation should include a thorough review of the job description so that each interviewer knows what they’re looking for.

Candidates may have questions about specific parts of the job, and each internal interviewer should be prepared to answer them. Interviewers should also thoroughly review the candidate’s resume or LinkedIn profile to understand how their experience and background relates to the position.

73% of candidates experience a lag in time waiting for recruiter response.  Tweet This

The best candidates are getting snapped up quickly, so any response lag could result in your company missing out on the most qualified talent – not to mention it could negatively impact your employer brand.

Candidates are eager to hear back from you at each step in the recruitment process, and may move on if it takes too long to get a response. 63% of job offers happen within 4 weeks of the first interview, so you should try to make your recruitment process a little faster than that to get your first choice candidates.

Set expectations with your direct hire agency about response times as well, so you’re both on the same page.

Bonus: 68% of candidates would join companies that created great impressions throughout the hiring process, even if they offered salaries 5% below the lowest acceptable offer.  Tweet This

This isn’t a scary stat – but it does show you how a little extra effort to improve your recruitment process can make a difference. While we’d never recommend lowballing a candidate offer, particularly in today’s competitive market, this shows how powerful a positive hiring process can be.