Over half (54%) of UK job candidates get frustrated by interview scheduling delays and 73% have left a process because of it, according to new data from scheduling technology company Cronofy.
The quality of a company’s recruitment process was also found to directly affect the perception of the business as well as possible future engagement.
The majority (84%) of UK job applicants asked said they judge a company based on the process it uses for recruitment.
Maddy Cross, partner at recruitment firm Erevena, told HR magazine that making a good impression during recruitment is important as the best candidates will likely have multiple options from various employers.
She said: “If your recruitment process is opaque or the candidate is left without guidance on next steps for a few days, the chance that they’ll be snapped up somewhere else is very high.”
Early stage and small businesses that don’t yet have an HR or people operations team cannot risk underestimating the importance of recruitment, she added.
“Hiring managers can be more focused on getting the right cultural fit than getting the right skills, so they can often substitute skills questions for more conversational questions.
“And whilst it’s absolutely critical to make sure that cultural fit of candidates is very good, it shouldn’t be at the expense of hiring people with the right skills,” Cross said.
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The research also found 43% of job applicants don’t want the recruitment process to be completely automated and instead want a human touch.
David Smith, author and business consultant and former HR director at ASDA, said businesses that only use technology to recruit lose the compassion that applicants want.
He said: “When the interview is first offered, the human aspect is not needed, an automated email is sufficient.
“I don't think people expect a company to have a phone call with them to book an appointment, it can be a waste of time.”
However, Smith said structuring the interview to be automated at first and then be human and friendly at the end, will make for a successful recruitment process.
Cronofy surveyed 2,000 UK people who had been through a recruitment process in the prior 12 months in March 2021.
