As now it’s become something of a phenomenon, unemployment is currently at it’s lowest for almost 50 years. Yet there are still over 1.3 million job seekers out available on the market.

Recruiters, HR managers and employers alike have to be at their pinnacle in order to lure these candidates into their grasp in such a competitive market. So what does this have to do with your website you might ask? Well, more than you might think!

A survey carried out by Cheeky Munkey on Millennial’s (ages 22-37)  from 107 companies to discover what today’s job seekers like and dislike about recruiters, how they conduct their job searches and how the interview process could be better improved.

• • “Only 19% of millennial’s like to be cold contacted by a recruiter, yet this is an increasingly common practice in the recruitment industry”
  • Regarding the actual job search, industry-specific recruitment companies ranked 4th behind jobs boards, Google and company websites.
  • Technology now plays a big part in the search with nearly two thirds of people ranking online jobs boards as their preferred way of looking for a new job.
  • Online recruitment companies (44%) were stated as the preference by over twice as many people as high street recruiters (21%) when asked what form of job hunting brings the best results.
  • The survey also found that more people said a poor recruiter website was the top reason they would look to work with another recruitment agency.
  • Networking is still a vital tool – 20% of people surveyed said that word of mouth recommendations gave the best results when job hunting. Someone who can vouch for a candidate personally is advantageous for both the candidate and the company hiring.
  • 43 per cent stated that they did not receive enough contact or support from their recruitment agency during the process, alluding to the fact that recruiters are too reliant on email and messaging in today’s recruitment industry.
  • “1 in 4 millennial’s surveyed stated receiving emails from a recruiter when they aren’t job hunting would put them off using that company in the future.”

Many of those surveyed were dissatisfied with pre-interview techniques, perhaps feeling that they waste time, the candidate process is too lengthy or they simply become stressed jumping through so many hoops, but what does this mean for recruiters? As stated above online recruiters were preferred over your standard high street recruiter. Having a stronger presence online clearly out weighs that of the high street, but having the right presence is everything. Making sure the content you create not only appeals to visitors when they arrive at your website, but luring them in the first place. However it isn’t just a website that can deter candidates from you – the damage can be done much earlier:

Other frustrations included:

• Receiving emails from a recruiter when a candidate isn’t job hunting – this deterred over a quarter of those surveyed from using that company in the future
• Inaccurate job listings with regards to salary and location made 57% of people switch recruiters
• A lack of transparency over the office environment turned off 22% of respondents
• A lack of knowledge about a specific industry

The survey also found that only 19% of people prefer to be cold contacted by a recruiter, yet this is an increasingly common practice in the recruitment industry, especially via mediums such as LinkedIn. Recruiters need to focus on a more targeted outreach.

So how does this all tie in to your online presence?
Times have changed from when there was a surplus of candidates to recruitment companies, recruiters could approach candidates knowing they’d be interested due to a lack of jobs but a surplus of candidates. However now its the opposite, to be a successful recruiter in the current market you need patience. Candidates hold the power as there’s fewer suitable candidates than positions. In order to be succeed, websites and social media need to be inviting and familiar, avoid citing off candidates and actively inform them about progress, clue yourself up with the relevant knowledge before putting yourself out there and finally avoid targeting the unemployed in general, create a niche marketing strategy and focus on a particular sector of the market. These are just some of the steps to take in order to tailor your media to the “new unemployment market”.

Source: https://recruitingtimes.org/news/24400/recruitment-websites-millennials-are-put-off-recruiters-who-provide-a-bad-website-experience/