It’s no secret that the candidate market, over the past several months and even years, has been tumultuous. With an unpredictable, and often depleted, candidate pool employers looking to attract and retain their workforce need all the advantages they can get.
Criteria’s 2022 Candidate Experience Report surveyed over 2,000 job seekers worldwide to identify the demands and concerns of today’s applicants. The report covers a wide area of employee and job seeker concerns including employer expectations in a post-covid environment and how positively or negatively their hiring experience impacted their role.
This candid peek into job seeker demands provides HR and Talent Acquisition teams with a unique opportunity to re-examine their own organizations in order to compete with increasing employee expectations.
Flexibility is Key
Today’s job seekers rank work-life balance as more important than traditional items like compensation and benefits packages. 33% of candidates reported having declined a position because it didn’t offer flexible or remote options, while 67% of candidates were “very confident” that their next job will be satisfying. Flexibility is clearly a top concern for most applicants, but it isn’t everything.
With job seekers gaining confidence in their ability to find the right jobs and secure the salaries they want, as well as their desired flexibility, it’s up to employers to outperform their competitors in order to secure new and even tenured employees.
Streamline the Interview Process
Hiring teams should look to maximize the efficiency of their interview process. This means HR and TA teams know what they want in an applicant and are ready to act as soon as they find someone who meets that standard. 53% of respondents to the Criteria 2022 CER reported that they abandoned a recruitment process because of poor communication and an additional 32% disclosed the recruiting process took too long.
After the interview, be ready to act fast! It’s apparent that speed and efficiency are things job seekers value. With more than half of survey respondents agreeing that interview processes take too long, being prepared to make a job offer as soon as a qualified candidate is identified can be critical in obtaining new employees.
Utilize Technology Tools
Seek to eliminate bias in your hiring process by utilizing technology to provide opportunities for applicants to objectively demonstrate their skills beyond the experience of their resumes. 94% of candidates say pre=employment assessments accurately demonstrate their potential, while 74% agree that assessments help them showcase their potential beyond the prior experience.
In addition to confirming a candidate’s capabilities, pre-employment assessments and other data-driven interview methods not only assist employers to decide which potential employees will perform well but can also instill confidence in the organization’s hiring process. When applied consistently, it also assures employees of an equal evaluation.
Candidate Experience Trumps All
One thing that is abundantly clear from the data gathered by Criteria’s 2022 Candidate Experience Report is that the demands of workers are as ever-changing as the labor market itself. To stay ahead, employers must recognize that while flexibility is a critical component desired by today’s job seekers, it’s not necessarily everything.
There are a lot of components to scrutinize, and your organization likely doesn’t have time to examine and overhaul the entire hiring model. That’s where a professional staffing firm like Sales Search Partners can be of service. Providing pre-employment assessments and facilitating a swift and efficient hiring process on your behalf are only a few of the many benefits that a knowledgeable recruiting service can provide. Contact Sales Search Partners today to discover what a professional staffing service can do for your organization!
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About Sales Search Partners
Sales Search Partners is the leading provider of sales recruiting services throughout the Greater Boston and New Hampshire markets. Today’s leading organizations turn to Sales Search Partners to attract and acquire top sales talent at all levels.
Learn more and search jobs at https://ssp.stage.bankwstaffing.com
