We’ve talked a lot about the candidate experience and how many jobseekers are looking for a more high-tech, high-touch approach to applying for a position with your company. In order to fully understand what jobseekers are looking for, you must understand the current state of job searches.
Fortunately, B2B ratings and reviews firm—Clutch—understands this, as it just released a new report: Statistics on the Average Job Search in 2018, which finds that the tight job market is favorable for jobseekers, forcing recruiters to act quickly to secure talent.
How fast, you may be asking? Well, according to 58% of recently hired employees, their job search lasted 2 months or less. Gone are the days of a long interview process. With skilled talent in high demand, recruiters must be quick to act.
Approximately 30% of recent hires spend 3 to 6 months job hunting compared to 13% who spend more than 6 months looking for a job. Because applicants complete the job search quickly, they apply to fewer jobs in total.
Quick to Decide, More Likely to Secure
Most recent hires moved through the interview process quickly before receiving an offer according to 43% of respondents who say they received a job offer less than 2 weeks after beginning the application process. Companies that move quickly to interview, streamline the number of interviews, and make an offer faster are in a better position to secure employees.
Among recently hired start-up employees, more than half (55%) say they received an offer at their current company within 2 weeks of beginning the application process, compared to slower recruiting processes at small (47%), medium (37%), and large businesses (41%). Overall, only 1% of recent hires accepted a job after interviewing for more than 6 months.
Fewer Jobs Are Being Applied for
More than half of employees surveyed (52%) applied to between one and five jobs during their most recent search, forcing companies to work harder to attract applicants. In addition, nearly one in five recently hired employees (19%) say they only applied to their current job during their most recent search, suggesting that recruiters enticed these workers away from a previous position, without the need for a traditional job search.
According to Michelle Delgado, Content Developer and Marketer for Clutch, the job market favors employees over companies, and because of this, recruiters must work hard to persuade employees to consider new opportunities.
Delgado suggests that companies that seek employees who are advanced in their careers may need to hire a recruiting firm to locate and persuade ideal candidates who aren’t currently looking for a new job to make a job change.
“If [employees are] happy in their current jobs, you have to work hard to convince them that the opportunity you’re presenting is something they should consider,” says Jan Hudson, chief operating officer at Surf Search, a San Diego-based recruiting firm.
The Interview Process Impacts Employees’ Views of the Company
Nearly all recent hires (91%) say the interview process influences their overall opinion of a company, including 40% who say the interview process strongly impacts their opinion.
Experts stress that companies should carefully curate their online presence, paying special attention to their online reviews. For many candidates, reading online reviews on Glassdoor, Yelp, Google, and other review platforms is now an essential step in the process of finding a new job, especially once they secure an interview.
“Right off the bat, try to clean up your company image if you have issues,” Hudson said. “Glassdoor is a killer.”
If your company has negative online reviews, especially on Glassdoor, candidates appreciate reading personal responses from the company. Delgado suggests having a representative from your company thank negative reviewers for their input and provide insight into how your company is taking steps to address concerns.
After all, when candidates have a poor experience with your company, they’re more inclined to tell their friends and family to stop doing business with your company, so it’s best to nip these issues in the bud as soon as possible.
For more information on the current state of job searches, click here.