New iCIMS Research Serves as Wake-Up Call for Employers: Nearly 60% of Candidates Never Hear Back from the Company After Applying

The new report evaluates the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to applying to some of the biggest European-based brands.

London [Sept. 18] – Great experiences lead to great hires, yet new research reveals many of the most prominent organisations based in Europe are lagging innovation and providing a subpar application experience for job seekers. Today, iCIMS, a leading provider of talent acquisition technology, published the European Talent Experience Report 2023, which highlights the pain points of finding and applying to jobs, and how talent teams can modernise processes to attract and hire the best workers. 

The research was conducted by students at the French business school, HEC Junior Conseil. The students evaluated various criteria across the job search and application process at nearly 250 of Europe’s largest companies across industries including manufacturing, healthcare, finance, retail and more. 

The results confirm that many organisations have room to improve: 

• More than half of companies (nearly 60%) fail to follow up with candidates after they apply. 
• Only 9% of companies include the salary in a job posting. 
• It takes candidates an average of ~8 clicks to find open jobs on a corporate site. 
• Only 3% of the career sites have a chatbot for 24/7 support.
• Less than half of career sites offer the ability to “one-click apply.” 

“Candidates interact with modern tech in their everyday lives, and they are used to intuitive systems and processes that just work,” said Darren Crowder, head of field innovation, EMEA, iCIMS. “Leaders can use this research to understand how they can improve the experience talent has with their employer brand and better capture top talent. At the end of the day, bad experiences impact your organisation’s bottom line.” 

From finding a job to following up post-interview, job seekers expect a seamless and personalised experience. Here’s how employers can meet those expectations:  

• Provide transparency in job postings. Candidates want to know potential pay before investing time in applying and potentially interviewing. In fact, nearly 50% of final-year university students in the UK and more than 40% in France claim they wouldn’t apply for a role without the salary range. Despite this, a mere 9% of corporations in this study included salary information in job postings. And, only 21% included workplace expectations (remote, hybrid or in the office).  
• Offer a window into company culture. A simple video of real employees is exactly what candidates want to see to determine whether a companies’ culture is a fit for them. Yet, only 4% of job postings on career sites include video content. Utilising video in job postings – free of production teams and high budget – can put employers miles ahead of the competition in engaging top talent and increase organic traffic to their career site by up to 75%. 
• Reduce time to apply. Candidates are experiencing a lengthy, frustrating process, taking an average of ~8 clicks just to find an open job on a corporate site – up from ~5 clicks in 2021. Virtual chatbots offer 24/7 support and can help identify relevant roles, yet only 3% of companies have one, leaving candidates with laborious steps to find and apply for open roles.  
• Engage at scale with personalised communications. What happens post-application says a lot about a company. Yet, more than half of companies fail to follow up with personalised feedback after candidates apply. To make automated communications more meaningful, companies can leverage marketing automation technology to nurture and engage candidates at scale throughout the talent journey.  

“It’s easy to assume that new technologies like automation and AI are the antithesis to human connection. But I believe they can be the opposite,” said Eric Gellé, SVP of EMEA, iCIMS. “Effective TA tech can streamline laborious recruiting processes and make systems simpler for candidates, humanising the talent journey. Utilising tech of the future is the only way to stay ahead of your competitors and make the job search less painful for candidates, and recruiters.” 

Download the iCIMS European Talent Experience Report 2023 now to explore trends and experiences from Europe’s largest brands, and success stories from Specsavers and Uber on creating exceptional talent experiences. Discover job seeker and employee expectations in the U.S., as well as more transformational customer stories here.