When candidates have a bad job-search experience with a company, it can hurt that company's bottom line.
According to CareerBuilder's Applicant Experience study, employers may lose out on good employees and business, if someone has a bad experience applying for a job with their company. Fifteen percent of job candidates reported having a worse opinion of the employer after they were contacted for an interview.Recruitment myth-busters
The survey is just the latest of recent research addressing the following recruitment myths:
Myth No. 1: Failing to acknowledge a job application doesn't affect the company.
Forty-four percent of workers who didn't hear back from an employer when they applied for a job said they have a worse opinion of that employer. In a separate CareerBuilder study of more than 2,000 employers and 5,000 workers nationwide, 32 percent of job candidates said they are less likely to purchase a product from a company that didn't respond to their job application.
Myth No. 2: What happens in the recruitment process stays in the recruitment process.
The truth is that bad experiences can go viral or at least spread throughout someone's personal network. According to a 2011 study by CareerBuilder and online survey company Inavero, 78 percent of job candidates said they would talk about a bad experience they had with a potential employer with friends and family, 17 percent said they would talk about it on social media, and 6 percent would blog about it.
Myth No. 3: Just hearing from an employer in a tough job market is enough to keep the candidate's interest.
You never get a second chance to make a first impression. That's especially true with job candidates, so employers should make it count. When asked to assess the recruiters who contacted them, 21 percent of job candidates reported that the recruiter was not enthusiastic about his company, 17 percent didn't believe the recruiter was knowledgeable, and 15 percent didn't think the recruiter was professional.
Myth No. 4: The top reason workers apply for a job is salary.
According to the survey, location was the No. 1 reason candidates submitted an application (45 percent), followed by desirable industry (33 percent), reputation of the company (25 percent), interesting assignments (23 percent) and advancement opportunities (22 percent). While competitive compensation is important, it ranked sixth on the list.
Myth No. 5: The top reason workers don't apply is content in the ad.
Good content in a job ad is critical, but technical issues are more often why workers decide not to apply for a job in which they're interested. Job candidates cited a link that wasn't working and computer or Internet problems as the top reasons for not applying to a job. The application being too lengthy rounded out the top three.
Source: careerbuilder