Irish employers are missing out on top talent due to long recruitment processes and complicated applications.
While the optimum length of a company’s recruitment process has been a debatable topic for some time, an extensive recruitment process can cost employers money, time and in a lot of cases, a strong candidate.
New research carried out by recruitment platform, IrishJobs.ie, reveals that 90 per cent of employers have experienced candidates dropping out of the interview process in the past twelve months.
Of the companies that admitted experiencing a candidate dropping out, seven in ten employers said that the candidate was offered another job during the recruitment process.
“Employers and hiring managers should seize the candidate interview process as an opportunity”
Three-quarters of Irish employers said that the interview process in their company can take up to one month, however, over a quarter of job seekers say they have experienced a lengthy interview process of between two to five months, with a further three per cent of interview processes taking more than five months to complete.
Frustrations
As Ireland remains at full employment, employers are now taking very selective measures when it comes to recruiting new hires, but as a result lengthening the process.
Some of the biggest frustrations felt by job seekers during the interview process include the nondisclosure of salary data (27 per cent), a lack of communication as to what stage they’re at in the process (25 per cent), and long application forms (12 per cent).
“There is a fine line between taking enough time to identify the best candidates and taking too much time to make a decision”
Almost half of Irish jobseekers say they would like to see more face-to-face engagement while a further 64 per cent felt as though the process didn’t allow them to adequately demonstrate their skills and expertise.
“Employers and hiring managers should seize the candidate interview process as an opportunity to demonstrate their organisation’s people-focused internal culture and employer brand,” said Orla Moran, general manager of IrishJobs.ie when discussing the results.
“Even unsuccessful candidates can become champions of an organisation if they have a positive experience of the interview process, and leave feeling valued and respected.
“Ensuring that the hiring process avoids some of the most common frustrations for job seekers will keep candidates engaged throughout the process. Process length should be a key consideration during the process. There is a fine line between taking enough time to identify the best candidates and taking too much time to make a decision.
“Every company will have different recruitment priorities and their hiring methods will inevitably be dictated by these. However, by avoiding common errors and frustrations, employers can optimise their interview process and maximise the return from their recruitment efforts,” she added.
IrishJobs.ie analysed the data collected from 1,550 respondents to a survey posted on the platform in Q4 2019.
By Stephen Larkin
Published: 11 February, 2020
