One in two tech candidates in Malaysia said that they turned down a job offer because of a mismatch between the advertised job scope and the actual job requirements, according to a survey commissioned by Randstad Malaysia and independently conducted by YouGov.

The 2021 Tech Talent Expectation Survey aims to highlight Malaysia’s tech candidates’ perceptions of current recruitment practices and their views on the skills shortage in the technology sector.

The survey also found that 35% of tech candidates turned down a job during the interview process because they did not have a positive impression of the hiring manager.

Approximately one in four Malaysian talent working in information communications and technology (ICT) roles said that they accept interview requests 50% to 74% of the time. However, 55% of tech talent say that they prefer to attend only one or two rounds of interviews, despite there being an industry average of three rounds of interviews.

Over a third, or 38%, of survey respondents aged 45 to 54 reported that they would not accept a job offer during the interview process if there were “too many rounds of interviews and / or assessment tests” or “the organisation takes too long to schedule the first interview”.

“Companies need to train hiring managers to be better at communicating the job scope and organisational culture during interviews and on job advertisements if they want to keep candidates interested in the role,” Randstad stated. “Besides knowing how to ask the right interview questions to evaluate candidates’ skills and personality traits, sharing firsthand information about the business will help candidates feel valued and engaged.”

“There is a greater need for employers to revise their recruitment procedures so they don’t deter candidates with prolonged interview processes,” Randstad stated. “Companies can host all their interviews with the shortlisted candidates in the same week as a way to condense their interview process to better meet candidate expectations. By shortening the interview timeline, employers can help candidates feel reassured and secure talent faster.”

Regarding skills gaps in the ICT sector in Malaysia, 47% of respondents ranked “cybersecurity” as the top specialisation lacking in tech talent, followed by “AI, automation and robotics” (41%) and “DevOps” (41%).

Meanwhile, one in five ICT respondents picked “cybersecurity” as their top choice if they were given a choice to restart their career, whereas another 16% of respondents picked “AI, automation and robotics”.

Nearly half, or 45%, of respondents picked Asian global enterprises as their top choice of company to work for, whereas only 33% picked local companies.