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Tech roadblocks to good candidate experience listed

October 08, 2014

A nationwide CareerBuilder study released today found five major technology-related barriers that can kill a candidate's experience and a firm’s chances of landing great talent.

“Technology can be your greatest ally or enemy when you’re interacting with job candidates,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder. “Job seekers today expect the application process to be fast, informative, more personalized — and mobile-optimized. The more in-demand one’s skill set is, the less likely the job seeker will be to jump through hoops. What the study shows us is companies that have a complex application process and don’t have the technology in place to routinely capture and re-engage candidates are at a competitive disadvantage.”

The five roadblocks identified by the study include:

  1. Failing to capture interested candidates: 57 percent of HR professionals don’t use any tools to capture candidates who didn’t apply to their job.
  2. Failing to re-engage applicants: 36 percent of HR professionals reported that they don’t re-engage job candidates who weren’t offered a role.
  3. Automating responses: 62 percent of job seekers expect more personalized communications and 67 percent expect a phone call from a recruiter after submitting an application.
  4. Limiting applications to the desktop: 33 percent of HR professionals reported that they saw a bigger drop-off rate because their applicant tracking system was not mobile-optimized. And when job-seekers can’t apply via a mobile device, 65 percent said they rarely return to their desktop to finish the application.
  5. Using a complex application process: 53 percent of HR professionals feel a long application process is good because it weeds out less enthusiastic or less qualified applicants. However, 60 percent of job seekers said they have begun an online application, but ultimately didn’t finish it due to how long and complex it was.

The online survey was conducted within the US by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder among 374 HR professionals and 319 job seekers. It was conducted between June 2 and June 25, 2014.