Jobseekers' Experiences – What Bothers Them Most in the Recruitment Process?

Despite the increasing talk of recruitment being candidate-driven and the importance of the candidate experience, many companies still stumble over issues that can make the recruitment process unpleasant for the interviewee. What are these stumbling blocks? We asked job seekers directly on social media what things bother them about the recruitment process.

1. Lack of communication

When a company wants to reach out and recruit talented people to its team, they often want to get the recruitment process up and running as quickly as possible. If this is done without allowing enough time for process and interaction, communication with candidates is often limited or even non-existent.

- Lack of communication is the biggest problem. For example, a candidate may not receive feedback to a job application, but then read on the company's social media that they have hired a new employee. It is disappointing if there is no information at all about the progress of the recruitment process, or why one was not chosen for the job. It is really useful to know what areas were missed or not adequate, so that the candidate can then develop that aspect of themselves and advance their skills in the future.

- Many applicants, thus, wished that more effort was put into negative responses, rather than sending the same "sorry, you were not selected" message to every person, and that messages were more personalized to the applicant's situation.

- When responding to a job application, it would be better not to send the same message to everyone, but to have a few different response options. For example, a candidate may get a negative reply saying that the successful candidates have long-term experience in the positions mentioned and that the selection was based on experience, when they themselves have 15 years of experience in similar positions and did not even get an interview.

- Candidates would like to receive up-to-date information on timetables and next steps during the recruitment process.

- Too rarely do applicants get up-to-date information on where they stand. In my own experience, maybe 1/5 of the applicants for positions at the most get some kind of provisional information about what is going to happen next.

2. Slow and cumbersome recruitment process

Due to the lack of communication and the scarcity of information, the slow and cumbersome nature of the recruitment process also came up in people's responses. In particular, long and complex application forms were highlighted.

- Without exception, jobs that require filling in a company's own application form and then attaching the same things in their CV are a source of frustration.

- I have come across a few application forms that were like labyrinths! You had to write this and that, and some information had to be mentioned twice. I wouldn't be surprised if most applicants drop out because of this.

- The length of the process also came up in the responses. During the job search process, most employers did not reply to me until four weeks later at the earliest, or at the point when the whole process has already been completed, and a new person has been hired. In that time, you can easily forget about the job you applied for.

3. Unreasonable demands & no benefits mentioned

The excessive requirements in job advertisements also came up as an annoyance. Many wished that instead of focusing on specific education and years of experience, more attention was paid to the skills and potential of the applicant.

- A newly graduated tradesman cannot possibly have ten years' experience in a job that has just been invented in a company. I would also like employers to see a look at the applicant's attitude and overall image, rather than just titles or work history. I think employers need more tolerance and openness.

- Too often, I come across job advertisements with a lot of requirements, but nothing at all about salary or even whether remote working is possible. Such advertisements fall straight into the X-folder.

- In addition to the requirements and the desirable qualities of the applicant, the company should also explain why it is worth applying for the job and what the employer can offer the talent. 

- Flexibility was also sought in terms of the timing of the interview.

- Many companies complain about a shortage of skilled workers, but at the same time are not prepared to pay a salary commensurate with the skills involved. A person with 15 years' experience will not be employed on a beginner's salary.

- It also occurs that, for example, because of the flu, it is considered impossible to postpone an interview by two days or to conduct an interview remotely.

4. Other issues that interfere with the recruitment process

Other themes that emerged from the responses were the vagueness of the recruitment notice, discrimination during the process, and the fact that the requirements of the application and CV were not clearly explained before the interview. The opening of a recruitment for a post that has already been filled was also mentioned.

- Many of the advertisements show that the recruiter has no idea what the job actually requires. In other words, there seems to have been no cooperation with the future manager or even the department.

- There is sometimes a covertly discriminatory vacancy announcement. For example, in the first couple of sentences, it either says "youthful team" or "youthful environment".

- I've come across interviewers who had just printed out the CV before the interview, and clearly hadn't read it beforehand. The first thing he asked me to do was to tell him briefly about my experience. In other words, the same crap as on the CV.

- A chapter of its own is jobs where there is already an internal candidate in mind, so everyone is wasting time on a recruitment process that shouldn't be needed in the first place.