One in two job seekers (53%) say that they develop a negative impression of the prospective employer if the hiring process takes longer than expected.
The Randstad Candidate Expectations survey reported that an efficient hiring process is more important to job seekers as compared to other factors such as the company’s reputation and workplace environment. Furthermore, 89% of job seekers are more likely to reject an offer if the process takes more than four weeks across Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
Managing Director for Randstad Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia, Michael Smith said: “Job seekers prioritise their own career development during the search process. As such, employers should adopt a needs-based approach towards recruitment by placing the job seekers’ career objectives and goals first. Employers are encouraged to have a care for personal touch through regular updates and face-to-face consultations with job seekers, while leveraging HR technology to speed up the hiring and selection process. This can help reduce job seekers’ stress and anxiety throughout the recruitment process.”
Across the three markets, communication levels, degree of personal interaction and the recruiter or hiring manager are important elements to at least one-third of job seekers during the recruitment process. The bottom three considerations that impact the job seeker’s experience are workplace environment, online presence and the use of innovative, emerging technologies.
These results further emphasise the need for organisations to develop a personalised recruitment process that places the job seeker’s requirements first.