Making sure your recruitment procedures are up to scratch can have an impact on your organisation’s bottom line as new research has confirmed that job seekers who have a poor experience turn into brand bashers.

The YouGov poll of over 2,500 people was commissioned by Capital Consulting and revealed that 53 per cent of job seekers will not purchase products and services if they have been badly treated with 23 per cent saying they would rather go without than purchase a product from a company which has treated them badly.

In addition, 55 per cent will tell at least three other people about their bad experience and 24 per cent will tell more than six people. One per cent will go so far as to post their experiences on a blog.

And it seems that poor treatment during the recruitment process is not a rare affair – 23 per cent of job seekers say they’ve had at least one bad experience.

Marisa Kacary, marketing director at Capital Consulting, says: “With the war for talent raging more fiercely than ever, a good employer brand is increasingly critical to an organisation’s commercial success.

“Recruitment is often an overlooked opportunity to reinforce your consumer brand experience. A huge amount of money and effort is directed at delivering brand strategies to existing and potential customers, but that same attention is clearly not being carried through to current and potential employees.

“As our research shows, if you treat people poorly during the recruitment process you could lose them as customers and they are only too happy to tell others about their bad experience with your organisation too.”

The main gripes from job seekers about the recruitment process involved a lack of communication. Fifty three per cent of people were aggrieved that no reason was given for not being offered the job. For 51 per cent, the lack of feedback following an interview was their main irritation. And 49 per cent of all job seekers find the lack of acknowledgment of their application the most annoying part of the recruitment process.

Other findings included:

• 34 per cent say they are asked irrelevant or stupid questions at interview




• 30 per cent are asked to do irrelevant tests




• 26 per cent of job seekers don’t like dealing with third parties and recruitment agencies – men (30 per cent) dislike this more than women (20 per cent)




• 32 per cent of people say they are sent details for jobs that do not meet their skills or salary expectations.