Not informing candidates of where they stand and lack of preparation for hiring managers rank as potential “missing links” in the hiring process that could turn off job candidates, according to a new study by CareerBuilder.

The study is based on interviews with 4,512 workers over 18 years old in the US, 504 workers in Canada and 1,500 hiring decision makers.

Here are the potential missing links the study found:

1. Not having a quick application process for every device: 28% of candidates said applications take too long.
2. Not preparing hiring managers: Only 16% of hiring managers overall are prepped by specialists to help manage the candidate experience.
3. Not having an effective career site: 24% of employers say their career site doesn’t accurately portray what it's like to work for their organization. And 45% of candidates say they can’t tell what it’s like to work for companies based on their career websites.
4. Not tailoring communications methods to specific segments: 57% of millennials prefer email communications, and only 31% prefer phone calls. Boomers are the opposite, 58% prefer phone calls. Gen Xers have equal preferences toward both.
5. Not recognizing when the employee experience really begins: Three in four workers say their candidate and onboarding experience is the first part of their broader employee experience with a particular company.
6. Not building relationships with candidates for future opportunities: 35% of employers said they don't put time into doing this.
7. Not having an efficient background check process: 60% of candidates continue communicating and interviewing with other companies while waiting on background results.
8. Not having the right ATS or an ATS at all: Those who currently use an ATS are 25% more likely to have a standardized process to help deliver a consistent candidate experience.
9. Not informing the candidate where they stand: More than half of job seekers say employers don’t do a good job of setting expectations in terms of communication at the beginning of a potential hiring interaction. Eighty-one percent of job seekers said continuously communicating status updates to candidates would greatly improve the overall experience.
10. Not staying connected with candidates once they have accepted the position: 40% of candidates said they’ve experienced a lack of communication in the past between when they accepted the job and their first day of work.
11. Not paying attention to how their employer presence/brand is portrayed on social media: 60% of employers don’t monitor their employer presence/brand on social media.
12. Not treating candidates with the same respect as employees: While the majority of employers, 51%, said the line is blurring between the company experience and employee experience, less than half of job seekers, 49%, said employers treat candidates with the same level of respect and accountability as current employees.

“A positive candidate experience is a competitive advantage in a job market where candidates have flexibility in their job selection,” said Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer at CareerBuilder. “To remain competitive and create a candidate experience that attracts, secures and retains today’s top talent, you need to determine how your current hiring methods measure up to what candidates are looking for.”