Employee marketplace-report

Sharpening Your Talent Acquisition Practices

2013 Employment Marketplace Survey Results:The Candidate’s Perspective

A SilkRoad TalentTalk Report

TalentTalk

2 // RECRUITMENT MARKETING EFFECTIVENESS

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Every interaction with a candidate is a brand building opportunity for your organization. Gaining insight into the candidate’s experience is vital, given the high cost of recruitment and competition for A-level talent.

INTRODUCTION

Perhaps you feel confident that your company’s talent acquisition practices are highly effective. You identify the best sources of hire, hone your interview skills, engage applicants, and develop benchmarks to measure your recruiters’ performance.

But what does your company look like from the candidate’s side of the desk? And what recruitment practices do other companies—including your competitors—use?

In a recent SilkRoad survey, 247 professionals revealed what they thought of companies’ talent acquisition practices, as well as the tools and techniques organizations employ. This report highlights the survey results and explores a wide array of today’s hottest topics:

• What organizational characteristics job seekers value most about a company

• What are the most important sources that professionals use for job hunting

• How candidates prefer to apply for a job

• What professionals’ “pet peeves” are concerning the recruitment process; what really gets under their skin

• What the most popular social networking sites are for job seekers

• Whether Web-based technology influences candidates’ perceptions of on organization

In the survey, we wanted to know how companies’ recruitment practices are perceived. Therefore, we polled a wide range of professionals: those who are happily employed, as well as those who “sample the market” occasionally, and those who are actively looking for a new position were all invited to participate.

This report is designed to help talent management professionals determine whether their companies operate in positive ways to source, attract, interview, and engage candidates. In some instances, we’ve blended survey results with information derived from other industry sources to give greater context to our analysis.

Read on to discover how your organization compares.


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METHODOLOGY AND RESPONDENT PROFILE

Survey date: May and July 2013

Delivery system: Conducted online and delivered to employees of corporations and not-for-profit organizations.

247 professionals responded.

55% were female.

34% sampled the market occasionally to see what’s out there; 34% were happy in their current jobs; 16% were considering a career change; 11% were actively job hunting.

63% were Generation X; 26% Baby Boomers; 10% Millennials.

30% were from companies with between 1,000 and 5,000 employees.

19% work in health care organizations, 12% in technology companies.


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PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

What Organizational Characteristics Do Candidates Value Most?

Companies that ‘recognize work life balance’ (55%) and provide ‘good benefits’ (38%) were most likely to motivate candidates to apply. The least popular choices were companies that are ‘committed to diversity’ (3%) and ‘noted for corporate citizenship’ (2%).

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Recognizes work life balance

Good benefits

Provides opportunities for professional development

Trustworthy, strong leadership

Recognizes and rewards achievements

Offers flexible work arrangements

Financial strength

Passionate, engaged workforce

Innovative culture

Provides great technology/mobile computing/social media

Committed to having a diverse workforce

Noted for corporate citizenship (philanthropy, environmentally conscious, etc.)

What organizational characteristics would motivate you to seek employment in a company? Please choose the top three.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Note that this is a “check your top three” question, so totals do not add up to 100%.

Key Points:

Candidates are attracted to an organization for wide ranging reasons, but the most important is work life balance. ‘Good benefits’ ranked #2 in importance, indicating that job seekers highly regard non-wage compensation when they look for jobs. ‘Provides opportunities for professional growth’ and ‘trustworthy, strong leadership’ each ranked #3, receiving 36% of the response.


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The connection between ‘work life balance’ and ‘good benefits’ is obvious. Workers have an easier time balancing between family and personal life when they have paid time off, paid sick leave, child care benefits, and healthcare for the worker and family.1 So, while work life balance and benefits may seem like “old school” recruitment tools, they can be important elements of your company’s value proposition to the candidate—especially if your organization is competing for highly skilled talent in a turbulent economy.

Probing further, we wondered whether the findings differed by generation. Crunching the numbers, we found that there were differences between the choices of Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials. Millennials were more likely to value ‘flexible work arrangements’ and a ‘passionate, engaged workforce’; Generation X favored ‘work life balance’ and ‘opportunities for professional development’; Baby Boomers more often chose ‘good benefits’ and ‘recognizes and rewards achievement’ as characteristics they’d consider favorably. Given these findings, a recruiter might consider varying the company’s employment presentation by generation.

CANDIDATES’ TOP SOURCES OF JOB INFORMATION

The three most important sources for job seekers were ‘Company Web sites’ (67%), ‘Job boards’ (65%) and ‘Referral from a trusted friend’ (61%). The least important sources were ‘Newspaper ads’ and ‘Search engines.’ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Company Web sites

Job boards(CareerBuilder, Monster, Craig’s List, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, etc.)

Referral from a trusted friend

Job search engines (Indeed, SimplyHired, etc.)

Recruiters

Search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.)

Newspaper ads

Don’t know

If you were (or are) job hunting, what sources would be most important to you? Please check your top three.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Note that this is a “check your top three” question, so totals do not add up to 100%.

1 Among all workers in private industry, 61% had paid sick leave and 77% had paid vacation and holidays. Among management and professional workers, the percentages rose to 83% for paid sick leave, 88% for paid vacation, and 89% for paid holidays. Selected Paid Leave Benefits, March 2013, U.S. Department of Labor survey. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ebs2.t06.htm Some companies, such as Google, are pushing the boundaries and offering benefits such as healthy free food, yoga classes at work, and subsidized massages, as a way to attract and retain the employees they need. “A Place to Play for Google Staff,” James B. Stewart, New York Times, March 16, 2013.


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Key Points:

That company Web sites are the #1 job-hunting source comes as no surprise. SilkRoad’s 2013 Recruitment Marketing Effectiveness Report echoes this finding: An analysis of more than 10 million applicants, 300,000 interviews, and 150,000 hires showed that of the top 10 online recruitment sources, company career sites provided the largest number of hires and the second largest number of interviews.2 A company Web site provides a unified brand image, which can reflect the culture and values of an organization. That image, plus more detailed job descriptions on the site, helps the potential recruit decide whether he or she is the right fit for the organization and the job.

Survey participants’ #2 source was ‘Job boards,’ such as Career Builder, Glassdoor, LinkedIn, and Monster.3 While many industry experts wonder whether large, generalist job boards are still relevant, it appears that respondents in our survey sample value them highly. The #3 job source, ‘referral from a trusted friend,’ shows that referrals remain a strong base for recruiting. Candidates undoubtedly know that having a referral separates their resume from the pack. Studies show that referred candidates are ten times more likely to be hired than other candidates in some companies.4

The lowest ranked sources were newspaper ads and general search engines. Not surprisingly, newspapers’ job sections have been displaced by online media and have lost advertising revenue for years. Further, we conjecture that search engines, such as Google or Bing are starting places for job seekers, although they give broad results, rather than detailed, in-depth information.

2 Thomas Boyle, “The Source is Strong in this One,” February 13, 2013. http://blog.silkroad.com/index.php/2013/02/the-source-is-strong-in-this-one/ 3 In another section of the survey, participants were asked to rate their agreement as to whether online media was the most important way for candidates to locate open positions. The majority (54%) either agreed or strongly agreed. Also, in SilkRoad’s 2013 Recruitment Marketing Effectiveness Report, job boards combined produced 54% of external interviews and 56% of external hires. 4 Nelson D. Schwartz, “In Hiring, a Friend in Need Is a Prospect, Indeed,” New York Times, January 27, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/28/business/employers-increasingly-rely-on-internal-referrals-in-hiring.html?pagewanted=all

In Their Own Words

“The company never acknowledged the receipt of my resume or application. Notifications would be ideal: First, when your application is received, and second, when the job is filled.”


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FISH WHERE THE FISH SWIM: MOST POPULAR SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES FOR JOB SEEKERS

LinkedIn was clearly the most popular social networking site for job leads, selected by 86% of respondents. Twitter received the lowest response at 7%._________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

LinkedIn

Facebook

Twitter

Other site

None/Do not usesocial networking sites

If you were (or are) job hunting, from which social networking sites would you be most likely to receive job leads? Please check all that apply.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Note that this is a “check all that apply” question, so totals do not add up to 100%.

Key Points:

LinkedIn, the well-known professional job networking site, was more than four times as popular as other social networking sites when it comes to job hunting. This impressive number may be attributed to the fact that LinkedIn is primarily targeted at professionals and is career-centered. Moreover, LinkedIn enables a job seeker to network easily with special interest groups in specific industries or professions. There’s been a loud buzz in the media and trade literature this year concerning the use of Twitter and Facebook as tools to identify and engage candidates. Even so, SilkRoad’s survey respondents did not rank these as important sources of job leads: 18% chose Facebook as a source of leads; only 7% chose Twitter as a likely source. One reason for Twitter’s low rating may be that it’s difficult to deliver sufficient information about a job within the 140-character limitation.

Then we wondered, did these results differ by generation? After additional analysis, we still found that LinkedIn was the most popular source among all generations. Not unexpectedly, we found that Millennials were slightly more likely to use Twitter for job leads: Still, only 14% of Millennials said that they would likely receive leads via Twitter.

In Their Own Words

“Interviewers often focus on technical skills only, to the point of giving me impersonal treatment.”


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PREFERRED METHODS OF APPLYING FOR A JOB

Nearly half the respondents (48%) indicated that they preferred to apply for a job through a company’s Web site. 37% said they preferred emailing a letter and resume.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Applying on a company’s Web site.

Emailing a letter and resume.

Apply in person.

No opinion.

Mailing in a printed letter anda paper resume.

If you were (or are) job hunting, what would be your preferred method of applying for a position?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Key Points:

Without a doubt, electronic media dominates when it comes to the ways candidates prefer to apply for jobs. More survey participants said they would prefer applying for a job on a company’s Web site.

But what kinds of information or features do candidates want most on company Web site? In another section of the survey, we asked participants what information they valued most on a company’s career Web site. Overwhelmingly, 91% said that detailed job descriptions were the most important to them.5 67% said that the ability to complete the entire application online was critical. 64% valued the ability search and pinpoint jobs by title or geography. We also examined respondents’ answers concerning site content: We found that nearly a third (32%) said that testimonials from company employees were important. Nearly another third (31%) said that executive profiles, annual reports, and messages from the CEO were important to them. It’s clear that an effective company career site is a combination of good content and well-designed functionality.

Findings indicate that a company’s career site can make or break the candidate’s experience. When survey participants reported their pet peeves about job hunting experiences, many complained about poorly designed recruitment Web sites. Later in this report, you’ll find more detailed discussion of this topic.

5 This finding was echoed in another question we asked: “What types of support or information would you expect companies to offer, if you were applying for a new job online?” 84% responded that clear definition of the job and skills were most important. Interestingly, only 9% said that a company phone number to call if they had problems was important.


THE HALO EFFECT & USE OF WEB-BASED RECRUITING TECHNOLOGY

The majority of respondents (53%) indicated that Web based recruiting technology would positively affect their impression of a company. 26% had no opinion, and 21% indicated that this would not affect their perception. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Yes. (It shows that a company is innovative and progressive.)

I’m neutral and have no opinion on this.

No. (This factor would not affect my perception of a company. I consider other things first.)

Would the use of Web-based recruiting technology positively affect the way you regard a company?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Key Points:

A company’s use of Web-based recruiting technology does influence the attitudes of job seekers; the majority of survey participants said it’s an indicator that a company is innovative and progressive.

Well-designed Web-based technology sends a message that a company is forward looking, attracting more candidates. Because recruiting technology can span the entire talent acquisition process, from application to interview and through to the final mailing of the offer letter, it presents candidates with a more cohesive, efficient process. Moreover, Web-based recruiting technology can offer candidates more than just job listings and a way for candidates to apply for positions. Web-based recruiting technology can provide supporting information about a company, its employees, benefits, history, culture, and more. It can motivate a candidate to apply for a job in the organization. Survey responses indicate that Web-based recruiting technology helps shape a company’s image, and is therefore an integral component of an employment brand.


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PET PEEVES ABOUT RECRUITMENT: OR “WAS MY APPLICATION LOST IN HYPERSPACE?”

The way candidates are treated during the recruitment process surely leaves a lasting impression. Candidates share information among themselves and their opinions resonate long after a position has been filled. In fact, they shape your organization’s reputation.

How did candidates perceive they were treated by prospective employers? In an open-ended question, we asked participants to describe their job hunting experiences and to identify their pet peeves about the way they were treated during the recruitment process. Five “themes” emerged from their responses, with the top complaints focused on lack of communication and unrespon-siveness:

• Companies are unresponsive when a candidate submits a resume or an application. This was perceived as an indication that the company does not value applicants.

• Follow-up or communication after the interview is not usual: Many respondents said they would like an acknowledgement or an update, indicating where the company is in the process of hiring.

• The application process can be difficult and lengthy. Companies’ career sites were sometimes poorly designed and hard to use, requiring candidates to enter inessential information and upload a resume. When this occurs, candidates tended to drop out.

• Interviewers or interviewing techniques were not professional: Interviewers were described as distracted, impersonal, late for the appointment, or asking irrelevant questions.

• Interviewers focus solely on technical skills to the exclusion of other qualities that would make a candidate desirable for the company, in the long term.

Key Points:

Even when the recruitment market is less competitive and candidates are plentiful, organizations must demonstrate professionalism in their recruitment practices. The application process, the interviewer, and the response to the applicant are the face of an organization. Poor behavior on the part of an interviewer, flawed technology, and unresponsiveness can cause serious damage to a company’s brand. Given the widespread use of social media—and sites that rate companies—a bad experience can go viral. With efficient use of new technology and best practices, companies can ensure that they are more responsive and communicative.

In Their Own Words

“After the interview, I never heard from the organization again.”

In Their Own Words

“I felt like I was being herded like cattle through the interview process.”


TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR RECRUITMENT: IMPROVING THE CANDIDATE EXPERIENCE

The survey shows that recruitment technology and specifically company career sites are the principal ways that candidates find and apply for jobs. Yet, after analyzing survey respondents’ free-form answers, we surmise that many companies are not making the most of technology to attract and engage job seekers. Many of the “pet peeves” candidates voiced might have been eliminated if companies had used new technology effectively. Here are a few examples of the ways companies can use technology to sharpen their recruitment practices:

• There’s no need for a candidate’s application to go unac-knowledged. Most recruitment systems enable a recruiter to set personalized and automated workflows, sending an email that acknowledges the application and sets expecta-tions for next steps.

• Candidates who are qualified enough to merit an interview also deserve a follow-up note, even when the job has been filled. Recruitment systems can send an automated email thanking the person for their time and letting them know where the company stands in the hiring process.

• Recruitment technology can make the application process straightforward. Many automated systems enable an employer to create a step-by-step process with easy ways to submit an appli-cation—such as using a LinkedIn profile.

• Late or unprepared interviewers should be “a thing of the past.” Many applicant tracking systems provide the tools to schedule interviews and standardize questions for recruiters and managers. These ensure that interviewers are on time and that they ask the candidate the right questions.

• Job seekers do not want to waste their time seeking out a company or a job that’s not right for them. Survey respondents said that they wanted detailed job descriptions, in addition to bet-ter ways to pinpoint jobs on a company’s career site. Rich content presented on a career site—company mission, philosophy, and culture—can help a potential recruit decide whether he or she is the right fit for the organization and the job. Additionally, recruitment technology, specifi-cally company career sites, can provide potential recruits with a transparent view—a window into the organization. It’s the “storefront” where a vital stage of recruitment begins.

• Those who are job hunting express a high level of frustration with their ability to find the right job. When companies use recruitment technology for distribution of job leads, the process is more precise. With the latest recruitment technology, organizations have the ability to review metrics that show the best sources of hire for the organization. The entire process is targeted and reaches best-fit candidates for a company’s positions. More exact targeting results in higher candidate satisfaction—as well as significant benefits for the employer: greater efficiency and reduced cost-per-hire.

In Their Own Words

“It feels like your resume was dropped into a black hole.”


INSIDE THE ORGANIZATION: EMPLOYEES AND RECRUITMENT

The majority of employed professionals (67%) said their employer provides an internal Web site for them to apply for jobs. Moreover, 55% said that their employer gives referral bonuses if any external candidate they recommend is hired._________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yes

No

Don’t know

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Does Your Employer Provide You With an Internal Career Web Site So You Can Apply for Jobs at Your Company?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yes

No

Don’t know

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Does Your Employer Offer a Referral Bonus If Your Recommended Candidate Is Hired?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Key Points:

Companies haven’t overlooked their employees as a talent pool--and as source of referrals. The majority provide the technology to enable internal candidates to apply for job. In addition, they give bonuses to employees who refer external candidates.

The explanation for these findings is obvious: Employers know that hiring from the inside can help an organization cut costs, particularly in a tight economy. Clearly, the current employee knows the company and culture, and therefore can be productive sooner. What’s more, it’s good for employee morale, as workers see their peers advance. For all these reasons, companies want to make it easy for their employees to learn about and apply for jobs: thus the internal career Web site.


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At the same time, organizations view employees ‘referrals as an excellent source of candidate leads. Companies recognize that a current employee understands the qualifications that make a candidate the “best fit” for an organization. So, the majority of companies in our study offer referral bonuses when a recommended candidate is hired.

SilkRoad’s 2013 Recruitment Marketing Effectiveness report supports these findings. In an analysis of data from more than 300,000 interviews and 150,000 hires, 93% of interviews and 94% of hires came from three sources, i.e. referrals, company websites, and internal hires.

CONCLUSIONS

There’s no doubt that job seekers are living through “the best of times and the worst of times” in the workplace and the economy. Survey participants clearly and sometimes critically described significant changes occurring in today’s employment marketplace.

It’s the “best of times” for technology in talent acquisition. Online media and recruitment technologies are great enablers—and vital links between the employer and the candidate. Career sites, recruitment software, and social networking sites have certainly made job information more available than ever before. The majority of survey participants said that online technology is the most important way for candidates to locate open positions. Those who are employed report that their companies offer internal career Web sites to employees. Still, participants’ write-in comments show that organizations can make better use of the technology they have—namely to let candidates know where they stand in the hiring process and when a job has been filled.

As for the “worst of times,” many survey participants characterized the relationship between the potential employer and the candidate as transactional and transitory in nature. As one professional said, “As an applicant, I felt like a commodity.”

The reality is that the employment marketplace is crowded, and there are only so many positions to be filled. Even as the economy turns a corner, companies are inundated with resumes, so it is difficult for them to give candidates the personal attention they desire. Corporate and agency recruiters have a broader choice of candidates and can be more selective. Survey participants indicated that companies appear to be interviewing many candidates and treating them impersonally.

In sum, what can companies do to sharpen their talent acquisition practices? First, every organization should periodically review its processes, assess its technology, and survey its candidates. Only through feedback can an organization continuously improve in talent acquisition. Second, companies can rely

In Their Own Words

“The interviewer did not respect my time. I was kept waiting.”


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on their current employees to be terrific ambassadors for the employment brand: More than two thirds of respondents said they would be very likely or like to recommend a friend to their employer. Third, companies should develop a value proposition that communicates the characteristics that candidates value. In our survey, participants said that work life balance, good benefits, professional development opportunities, and strong leadership were important to them. Last but not least, respondents said the #1 way they apply for jobs is through a company’s career Web site. Every organization that’s acquiring talent should have one.

Finally, every contact with a candidate, from receipt of an application through salary negotiation, is an opportunity to enhance a company’s brand. Company values, technology, recruiters’ behavior, and current employees are all components of a strong brand and should communicate to a candidate that, “This company a great place to work.

Copyright 2013, SilkRoad. All Rights Reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective ow

ners. Employm

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ABOUT SILKROAD

SilkRoad® is a leading global provider of cloud-based, end-to-end HR solutions that enable customers to find, attract, develop, and retain the best talent. The award-winning Life Suite® includes Talent Acquisition (recruiting and onboarding), Talent Development (performance and learning), HRMS, and Talent Portal solutions that are easy to deploy, easy to use, and affordable for all businesses.

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