2014 Talent Acquisition

Survey
September 2014

2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

Job Seeker & Talent Acquisition Challenges

Every day, millions of Americans are searching for work. And in todays techenabled world, it should be easier than ever for them to identify, apply for, and
follow up on positions that interest them.
Unfortunately, a new survey by Jibe finds that most job seekers* today are
dissatisfied with the steps they need to take today to search and apply for jobs.
And although many HR professionals* are aware that some issues exist, theyre a
much more optimistic group they simply dont realize the depth of the challenges
that applicants face.
A closer look reveals a major technology disconnect at the root of this gap. From
outdated online and mobile application systems to an alarming lack of follow-ups
and clarity about the process, the limitations of prospective employers throw a
serious wrench in a journey that is often difficult to begin with. And both
audiences are painfully aware that these inefficiencies not only get in the way of
effective hiring, but can damage the companys brand and bottom line.
*An online study of 1,205 passive and active job seekers ages 18+, and 306 HR decision-makers or frontline recruiting professionals
2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

Job seekers are struggling,

and their expectations dont
match the reality of what
prospective employers can
offer.

2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

An Uphill Battle
A majority of job seekers have negative feelings about the job search process.

Up to this point, my job search has been

Time-consuming

80%

Stressful

78%

Discouraging

71%

Painful

60%

Efficient

49%

Promising

Exciting

42%
38%

Satisfying

35%

Easy

35%

2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

Unresponsive Employers
Job seekers are frustrated by the inability of companies to respond in a timely
fashion:
Expectation

Reality

60%
55%

20%

19%

Companies reply in a timely manner

Companies are respectful of my time

2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

Candidates in the Dark

Many job seekers are also frustrated by the lack of key follow-ups:
Expectation

62%

Reality
51%

51%
46%
41%

28%

16%

14%

Companies will let me know Companies will keep me

Companies will notify me Companies will tell me that I
why I didn't get a job
informed about the status of when my application has didn't get a job all or most of
an application
been received all or most of
the time
the time
2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

The Human Touch

And perhaps most importantly, millions of job hunters are often left feeling that
companies simply dont care enough about them as people:
Expectation

Reality

51%
46%

40%

38%

24%
21%
15%

Make applicants feel valued

13%

Make applicants feel

wanted

Clearly communicate the

application process

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Be transparent about the

application process
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Application Obstacles
A clear majority (60%) of job seekers feel that the online job application
process is more challenging than other common forms:

Which applications are the most challenging to fill out?*

Job

60%

Mortgage

48%

Health insurance

46%

College

36%

Student loan

32%

Grad school

27%

Government ID

20%

Credit card
Online dating

19%
13%
*Respondents were asked to choose their top three answers.
2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

Avoidance at all Costs

What would you rather do than fill out
an online job application?
Do all of my holiday shopping on
Christmas Eve

30%

Go on a blind date

30%

Speak in front of 100 strangers

22%

Spend a day on line at the DMV

19%

Get a root canal

12%

Go skydiving with no training

12%

None of these

In fact, three in ten would

rather do all of their holiday
shopping on Christmas Eve
(30%) or go on a blind date
(30%) than fill out an online
job application. Nineteen
percent would even opt to
spend a day waiting on line at
the DMV instead!

36%

2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

Basic Demands
Job seekers feel that the online application experience is too complicated and
desire something better.

It's extremely important that the online application

process at most companies is
68%
60%
44%

Clear

User-friendly

Easy

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40%

Fast

10

HR professionals know the

application process is
painful but dont
understand the extent of
this pain.

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11

Not Meeting Needs

HR professionals agree that their current application processes are
coming up short:
Most feel that its extremely important for candidates to feel their
application process is clear (69%), user-friendly (64%), and easy (56%).
Additionally, close to half acknowledge that most of the people who
apply to jobs at their company expect transparency about the process
(45%) and follow up often about the status of their applications (42%).
Yet, many HR professionals admit that if they were applying for a job at
their company today, its not very likely that they could describe the
experience as easy (57%), user-friendly (54%) or clear (52%).

2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

12

Experience Matters
54%
say that candidate
experience is
important

36%
find it challenging
to improve candidate
experience

HR professionals know that the application

process is crucial to attracting top talent,
but are still struggling to improve in that
area.
More than half (54%) agree that candidate
experience is important to their hiring
practices.
Forty-five percent are committed to
enhancing the experience.
Almost four in ten (36%) report that
improving the candidate experience is
one of their greatest challenges.

2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

13

Tools of Engagement
A majority of HR professionals feel that candidates are extremely ambivalent and
disconnected throughout the application process.

Most people who apply for jobs at my company

57%

Don't stay engaged throughout the

process

56%

55%

Aren't satisfied with the application Don't feel connected to my company

process

Additionally, nearly two in five feel its hard to keep candidates engaged throughout
the application process (35%) and communicate effectively with them at each step
(34%).
2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

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Sharing More Information

Perhaps a better feedback loop would be
a step in the right direction:

48%
would change the
application process
based on candidate
feedback

Many HR professionals would

consider changing some aspects of
their application process based on
candidate feedback (48%) and feel they
need more applicant feedback posthire (46%) as well as during the
process (44%).

30%
find it difficult to
incorporate candidate
feedback into system
changes

However, three in ten (30%) admit that

incorporating candidate feedback
when they make tweaks to their
systems is a challenge they currently
face.

2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

15

HR professionals and
job seekers alike are
frustrated with the tools
they have today.

2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

16

Deep Dissatisfaction
A majority of HR professionals say that their current technology doesnt deliver
what they need.

The recruiting tools I use today are not

65%
59%

Intuitive

Easy to customize

58%

Money-saving

53%

Time-saving

In fact, nearly three in ten (27%) HR professionals agree that the tools they have
right now get in the way of their ability to do their jobs instead of actually
making them better at what they do.
2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

17

Tracking Poorly
Almost two in three (64%) express some dissatisfaction with or plans to
replace their current applicant tracking system (ATS).
Many dissatisfied customers cite issues with customization, integration, ease
of use, and performance.

Cumbersome,
complicated, and
slow.
Often delays the
hiring process by
enough time that we
have lost potential
candidates.

We get people,
but not the
best.

Too manual.
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Difficult to customize,
performance is slow,
and metrics are
impossible to obtain.

It is old and not

integrated with other
tools.
18

Investing the Hours

Job seekers express skepticism about the
technology available to streamline the
application process, particularly as it relates to
mobile capabilities:
On average, this group believes that the
longest that an online application should
take is 30 minutes.
More than two in five (41%) say that if they
didnt know long the application would take
to complete, they wouldnt even start it.

And 46 percent admit theyd be concerned

about the amount of time an application
would take them to complete if they were
doing it on a smartphone.
2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

Online job applications

shouldnt take longer
than 30 minutes

41% wouldnt start an

online application if
they didnt know how
long it would take
19

Mobile Expectations
Job seekers are happy to let
smartphones aid their search:

54% have done

at least one
of these during
their job search:

Eighty percent of job

seekers expect to be able to
do part of their job search
easily on a smartphone.
More than half (54%) report
that they have used a mobile
device in numerous ways to
aid in their job search
everything from
bookmarking posts to revisit
later to conducting the entire
search using a smartphone
or tablet.

Saved postings on a smartphone

Used a mix of devices to apply

Used a smartphone for the entire process

Used a tablet for the entire process

2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

20

Mobile All the Way

70% would use a
smartphone to
apply for a job.
Some of the
most common
reasons are:

A majority (70%) of job

seekers would be willing
to not just search, but to
apply for a job from a
smartphone.

Convenient:

62%

Fast:

49%

Easier than using a computer:

23%

2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

Of these, a clear majority

(82%) represent the
current and future
workforce (18-34-yearolds) vs. those who are 35
and older (56%).

21

Roadblocks to Adoption
While job seekers are open to the idea of applying for positions on a mobile
platform, 88 percent admit they have concerns about this process:
Making mistakes or errors

55%

Uploading my resume

51%

Formatting my resume

51%

The time it will take

46%

Reviewing my application before I submit it

41%

Security of personal information

39%

Room for the information I want/need to share

38%

Employer might think I'm not professional

37%

Contacting tech support

Other

26%
3%

2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

22

Crucial Offering
Job seekers and HR professionals agree that mobile optimization is a priority.
Seventy-six percent of HR professionals say its important that candidates
feel the application process is mobile optimized.
Job seekers agree: more than half (55%) feel its important that the online
application process is optimized for mobile.

76%

55%

of HR professionals stress
the importance of an
application process thats
mobile optimized

of job seekers feel its

key for the online
application process to be
mobile optimized

2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

23

Coming Up Short
Companies are struggling to meet the mobile expectations of todays job seeker.
Nearly a third (27%) of HR professionals at companies with 500+ employees
havent optimized anything job search-related for mobile devices.
Thirty-six percent also admit that if they were in a candidates shoes, they
wouldnt be able to describe the application process at their company as
mobile-optimized.

27%
of those at companies with 500
people or more report that nothing
is mobile optimized.
2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

24

Stopping Mobile Adoption

What would prevent or has prevented your company from
mobile hiring optimization?
IT implementation issues

43%

Available budget for my department

35%

Competing budget priorities

33%

Internal resistance

32%

Not having enough data to make/inform a decision

25%

Company's financial performance

Other

24%
4%

Despite IT implementation issues topping the list of mobile optimization

obstacles, this goal is actually deemed important by more of those in the IT
department than in HR (83% vs. 71%).
2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

25

Data Headaches
Almost two in three (62%) HR
professionals dont feel they can
easily extract data or metrics from
their current recruiting tools to
make key decisions.

62%
cant easily extract data
or metrics from their
recruiting tools

Nearly a third (32%) are forced to

request a manual export from
someone else in order to get the
data they need.
Only 25 percent are able to
consume the data they need
through a user-friendly dashboardlike application.

32%
usually have to request
a manual data export
from another person

2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

26

Uneasy Analytics
Talent acquisition professionals
report that they spend an
average of 32 hours per month
manually sorting through or
manipulating data, an increase
from the 24 hours a month
reported in 2013.*

It takes 32 hours a month to

manually sort data

Despite this time investment, 67

percent do not trust most of the
data generated by their
recruiting systems.
Three in four (75%) say its not
easy for them to share or explain
the data they have to those
outside of HR.

67% dont trust most of

the data they receive

2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

27

Flying Blind
Talent acquisition professionals are unable to track key metrics used to guide
hiring decisions.

Right now, Im unable to track...

Cost per hire

58%

Candidate conversion data

56%

Quality of hire

54%

Time to fill

49%

Applicant source

42%

2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

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A Thirst for Data

This may be why almost half (46%) of HR professionals express interest in
recruiting tools that would better integrate all of the data they have; the same
amount (44%) would like tools to make their current numbers easier to
understand.

I am interested in recruiting tools that

would better integrate all of the data that I
have

46%

I am interested in tools that make the data

available easier to understand

44%

2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

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An inferior candidate
experience can deter quality
hires and impact a
companys bottom line.

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Behind the Curve

Nearly half (44%) of job seekers agree that if they were applying for a job online
using a tool that felt archaic, theyd either give up the application completely or
put it off until later.

If an online job application was outdated or not

advanced enough, I would
Put off
applying or
not apply at all
44%
Apply anyway
56%

2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

31

Top Talent Walks Away

Not only do job hunters dread the online application process, many arent very
committed to it:

Job seekers would be most apt to give up on an online application if they

encountered tech hurdles (60%), couldnt upload their resumes (55%), or
werent able to follow up on their applications status (44%).
In fact, six in ten (60%) have either started an online application without
finishing it or lost all of their work after completing one.

60%

of job seekers have either quit an online application

before completing it, or thought they were finished and
lost all their work

2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

32

Negative Impacts
One in three (33%) HR professionals believe that if candidates werent able to
apply for jobs on their smartphones, theyll be less interested in working for
that company. Two in ten (20%) job seekers go so far as to say that they
wouldnt fill out an online job application if they couldnt do it on a mobile
device.
Many HR professionals also imagine that mobile hiring limitations will lead to
negative company feedback shared by applicants among their friends and
family (21%) and publicly on social media (21%).
A quarter (25%) of HR professionals think that not being able to apply for jobs
using a smartphone might even prevent candidates from buying products or
services from that organization.

2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

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Adverse Effects
Additionally, 37 percent of HR
professionals are concerned about their
companys application process deterring
quality hires and with good reason:
Over a third (34%) of job seekers confirm
that if they had issues filling out an online
application, for example, theyd never
apply for a job there again, tell others to
similarly avoid the company, or even
steer clear of supporting the company
with their time or money.

Forty-one percent of 18-34-year-olds

would consider one of these damaging
courses of action, vs. 26 percent of
their 35+ elders.
2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

If an online
application
gave them
trouble, 34%
would:
Never apply to the
company again

Tell others not to

apply to the
company
Not support the
company with their
time or money
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Methodological Notes
The Jibe Recruitment Survey was conducted between August 13th and August 22nd, 2014 among two
audiences using an e-mail invitation and an online survey: 1,025 active and passive job seekers ages 18 and
over; and 306 HR professionals from companies with 100+ employees and $50M or more in revenue and who
are either on the front lines of recruitment or are decision-makers who have budget authority in talent
acquisition.
Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is
affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results.
For the job seeker study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more
than 3.1 percentage points from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all
personas in the universe represented by the sample. The margin of error for any subgroups will be slightly
higher.
For the HR audience study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by
more than 5.6 percentage points from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with
all personas in the universe represented by the sample. The margin of error for any subgroups will be slightly
higher.
*The 2013 Jibe Recruiter Survey was conducted between July 31st and August 14th, 2013 among 101 staffing
and recruiting professionals, using an email invitation and an online survey. The margin of error was +/- 9.8
percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.
2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

35

Thank You

www.jibe.com

9/5/2014

2014 Jibe. All Rights Reserved.

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