Hiring the best talent is a challenge even when it isn’t a candidate’s market, as it is today. Adding to the woes of business owners, recruiters, and hiring managers is data from a new study that suggests that 7 in 10 job applicants considered or did drop out of the recruitment process because it is too long and complex.

The data comes from a global survey collating the views of more than 3,700 recent job candidates and 1,200 HR professionals.

Within that recruitment data, we find that 22% of applicants had a problem with the background investigation and screening processes.

Interestingly, there appears to be a disconnect between candidate and employer views. Only 9% of Human Resources professionals felt that prospective candidates would find their application process complex.

The UK Skills Shortage

According to Steve Smith, President International at Sterling, the Sterling Background Check Trend Report should be a cause for concern for hiring professionals, with half already admitting to being unable to find enough potential candidates to fill vacant job roles.

Steve Smith said, “With skills in short supply across most of Europe, ensuring applicants have the best possible experience with a brand is of significant importance. However, this latest data indicates that a significant proportion of the candidate community is dropping out of hiring processes due to the complexity of requirements, suggesting the experience for the end-user isn’t as positive as it could be. There’s been a wealth of speculation that individuals are getting counter-offers which is leading to them dropping out of the hiring process due to opportunities elsewhere. While this may be the case, the insight from applicants themselves suggests there’s more to this issue that needs to be addressed swiftly. In the current economy, it’s simply not a viable option to overlook how important it is to provide an efficient and engaging hiring process for candidates.”

Steve continued, “Making the switch to Digital Identity will be a critical component towards not only speeding up the hiring process and making it simpler for all parties but also provide candidates with full confidence in their safety, which is certainly cause for concern among job seekers. While it may be tempting to think of background screening as just another step to complete in the hiring process, the way that background searches are conducted can actually have a major impact on how candidates experience and perceive the overall hiring effectiveness of an organisation that they are considering joining. In fact, the majority (54%) of our candidate respondents agreed that their background screening experience made them feel more confident about working with the organisation or pursuing the job. All of this adds up to the notion that there is a degree of control and levers that can be pulled, especially when it comes to background screening and digital identity verification that could keep candidates engaged, help them take the next step in the hiring process, and improve the health of an organisation’s talent pipeline.”

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