It’s Not Me. It’s You – Candidates Abandoning the Recruiting Process

by admin on March 4, 2022 in Ask a Recruiter, Business Trends, Dallas IT Recruiting

 

Even as the pandemic takes a breather, recruiting remains a challenge, especially in IT. For many, it’s a candidate’s market, and business is booming. But according to an article by Kevin Grossman, citing the Talent Board’s 2021 Candidate Experience Benchmark Research Report, candidates are leaving the recruiting process for three common reasons described below.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

According to the report and the article, candidates that left the recruiting process often felt the interview process disrespected their time. According to the article, “The most common occurrences include:

 

  • Overly complex or repetitive applications with assessments
  • Screenings, tests, or assessments that take too long or that require unreasonable amounts of time and effort to complete
  • Recruiters or hiring managers schedule interviews but never show up (ghosting), reschedule several times, or are disruptive during the interviews themselves.
  • Job offers that take weeks or months to materialize.
  • Lengthy and arduous onboarding practices (which get worse in heavily regulated industries)

Another less obvious but no less critical way employers disrespect candidates’ time is by keeping them in the dark about where they stand during the recruiting process. For instance, just 36% of North American candidates could view a progress indicator when applying for a job, and only 29% received a reminder about the next steps after completing their application.”

Time in a Bottle

When time is money, nobody has time to wait. Candidates were also bothered by lengthy recruiting processes. According to the article, “Again, candidates fully accept that the recruiting process takes time — time that ultimately might not even pay off with a job offer. However, they also understand their value, particularly in today’s fiercely competitive labor market. As a result, they’re much less willing to endure long, arduous recruiting processes. Plus, in the current recruiting environment, TA teams that move slowly will lose desirable talent to nimbler teams with streamlined processes…As previously noted, an overly complex or repetitive application can contribute significantly to candidate abandonment. For example, while 54% of the candidates we surveyed in 2021 said it took them less than 15 minutes to apply, the process still took longer for nearly half of them, and times varied widely.”

Money, Money Money

It may be no surprise that missing salary expectations for a position consistently ranks high as a cause for leaving the recruiting process. However, it may be surprising that salary as the topmost reason changes among regions. As recruiting strategies adapt to the changes in the candidate market, will there be a shift to upfront salary ranges before the recruiting and assessment process begins? Only time will tell.

Whether the current flagging of the pandemic is an actual transition into an endemic phase or simply a hiatus from the following variant, hiring changes and how people work will persist. However, regardless of the current hiring market, history shows that those who adapt fastest thrive.

If you are interested in learning more about getting the best IT talent in the Dallas metroplex, BCT specializes in recruiting IT talent in Dallas, Ft. Worth, and North Texas. So if you are looking for a rewarding career, contact us today.