Of course, all organizations should be listening to their candidates and taking note of their perspective. They are a recruiting team's holy grail in understanding how their processes are working. Candidates in the midst of the interview process or who just finished the interview process have fresh, original thoughts.
But all too often, candidates who are hired or dispositioned are never or rarely surveyed about their experience.
So, what really is the most frustrating part of being a candidate today? What do candidates really think of their interview experiences?
We gathered real thoughts and opinions from from job seekers, leaders in Talent Acquisition and hiring managers. Brace yourself; the candidate experience is not looking great.
Problematic and Discouraging
“The job search process is very problematic and discouraging...In general this is how it goes...find a job that sounds interesting, review job description, confirm I have done or can do everything listed at a high standard, either reach out to a recruiter [or] fill out online application, rarely hear any update following either method, go through [multiple] rounds of interviews...either get a job offer or hear nothing.”
- Anonymous Job Seeker
Discriminatory
“I recently had a conversation with an SVP of a recruiting and placement firm. He advised me that I was far too skilled and far too experienced to be of any value to an employer. He suggested that I considerable dumb down my resume and my social media. Perhaps I should. Age discrimination is rampant in our companies. Both HR and Recruiters are highly complicit.”
- Andrew Garlick (Senior IT and Finance Executive)
The Recruitment Black Hole Exists
“The black hole problem is real but it’s not because the technology doesn’t exist to help. It’s a people problem. Most talent acquisition teams are under staffed and underfunded plus needed to fill roles yesterday. They get thousands of resumes and are overwhelmed. That said there are simple things they can do to help the experience. A candidate should always get some response beyond the auto 'we received your application.' I experienced both sides, and to me it’s an organization problem and there needs to be a commitment to treating candidates like customers!”
- Michael Iacona (Co-Founder and CEO)
A Manual Process Leading To Nothing
“Looking for a position today is the most frustrating and discouraging thing I’ve experienced in a long time. A job will be posted somewhere and then you not only need to submit a resume but you have to register an account on the company website and then manually fill out details of your entire employment and school history, etc. After all that, you never hear anything even though you’re a perfect match."
- Anonymous Job Seeker
Misleading
"I have often wondered if recruiters just post positions to see who's out there, conduct salary surveys, or have some sort of recruiting job post quota they must fill to prove their effective without actually having the advertised position available."
- Anonymous Job Seeker
https://vimeo.com/262861261
