Unemployed people are significantly less likely to be invited for a job interview than those who are already working somewhere and are also less likely to receive feedback afterwards, a study by HR services company Acerta in collaboration with Stepstone showed.
Acerta and Stepstone surveyed 2,500 working Belgians and just over 500 job seekers and found that 44% of surveyed job seekers are often not invited to a first interview to discuss their CV or cover letter. Among Belgians who already have a job at another company, that figure is only 11%.
Additionally, 48% of job seekers do not receive feedback after a job application, but for working Belgians this is just 17.5%.
"It is a missed opportunity that almost half of job seekers do not receive feedback on a job application, on average," said Britt Winnepenninckx, talent expert at Acerta Consult. "Because even if a candidate is not suitable for the job, maintaining contact with the job seeker can also be very valuable for companies."
Experience less important than work ethic
"If a job seeker has a positive application experience, they will speak positively about the company. Providing a candidate with useful feedback is a must," she said. "It helps the candidate advance in the job market and that benefits everyone."
Furthermore, 48% of those without a job believe that work experience is the most important asset to get hired, followed by motivation and attitude (28.5%) and education and qualifications (13.5%). A survey of employers, however, shows that they mainly recruit on competencies (84%), followed by attitude or work ethic (78%). Work experience only ranks fifth among the most important criteria for people hiring.
"Qualifications and work experience obviously remain important, even in a tight labour market, but they are not number one," said Winnepenninckx. "An interesting candidate must be someone who can bring a lot to a company in the future. Then you quickly come to the competencies and potential of that person."
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She stressed that companies need to look at a candidate's growth margin to make careers sustainable. "Someone who already has full command of the job when hired cannot grow in that position and will therefore usually stay with the company for a shorter period of time."
However, this type of candidate can still take up other roles, which is why it is important to carefully check the candidate's ambitions during the interview. "That way companies can see how the job can be adapted to the candidate."
