Online job board and recruitment company GuruCareers published some interesting information at the end of March 2011 about the habits of a jobseeker and the online activity they take part in.
The majority of jobseekers – 64% – looking for jobs online tend to do so between the hours of 0900 and 1800, no surprise there but interestingly the rise of smartphones has meant there is a peak of jobseekers looking for new jobs at 08.21am! A sign that some are dreading the day ahead when they commute! And job seeker traffic is at its busiest on a Tuesday lunchtime between 12.00 and 15.00 with 8% of all applications being made at this time. If you want your application to stand out from the crowd you may well want to avoid this busiest period and opt for another day instead.
Even though smartphones are making an impact in our everyday lives, using these devices to apply for positions is still relatively low – just 3.3% of jobseekers use this method. Reasons cited include poor web design and the inability to be able to upload a CV are just a couple of the reasons stated by smartphone users. It’s interesting isn’t it that we have these conversations about the net generation however the job of finding a job still remains the same old same old.
The other interesting stat is the hiring organisation or managers view; the relevancy of the candidates that are applying for jobs online – in other words 83% of applicants are not suitable for the position they apply for, with just 13% being highly relevant. That statistic also bears out for project management recruitment at Arras too; an average vacancy will have up to 100 people applying for it, with 13 people being of interest in some way. The 13 becomes 3 or 4 following an interview and conversations about location, salary, whether the role is right for that person.
Looking at it from the jobseeker’s point of view, I’m not sure many people would want to be classed as one of the 83% yet jobseekers will continue to blindly apply for jobs that vaguely feel right (and in some cases just mention the work project!) and continue to be excluded from the 13%.
Image: procsilas
The key point recruiters need to ask is why 83% apply for a role they are not suitable for. Are all these people terminally stupid or could it be that the adverts themselves fail to convey sufficiently what is required from the candidate.
Sadly companies and recruitment agencies have brought this on themselves to some degree by producing bland role descriptions copied from each other and not being clear on the key factors. Candidates are often left to guess what the role may or may not be and therefore submit a speculative CV. Some examples:-
Vague locations e.g. Northern Home Counties could mean a commute of 5mins or 2 hours. Where is the job?
A ‘competitive salary’ doesn’t mean much if you don’t really understand the dimensions of a role. ’Salary to attract the very best’ is even more meaningless. What is the actual salary range under discussion?
Bland generalities about the role. A role profile covers everything about the role but what is the prime focus of the role, what qualification / skills are really needed and which are just nice to have?
Most people (apart from the dim) don’t want to waste a second applying for a job they definitely know they are not going to get. I’ve never applied for a doctor’s position but have put plenty of applications in for PM roles not knowing whether I may be suitable or not. Whilst companies and recruiters fail to communicate what they are really looking for, this massive waste of time and talent will continue.