HOLMDEL, N.J., July 16, 2018 — More than two-thirds of employed Americans agree that the application, interview or offer process would make or break their decision on whether to take a job, according to a new report from iCIMS Inc., a leading provider of cloud-based talent acquisition solutions.

iCIMS’ Candidate Experience Report explores the experience people go through as they search, apply and interview for jobs, and how the quality of that experience is affecting employers.

“When searching and applying for a job, candidates expect the same ease of use and functionality they see in the apps, search engines and websites they already use every day,” said Susan Vitale, chief marketing officer at iCIMS. “Particularly in today’s tight labor market, if companies do not prioritize the candidate experience, they will not only turn off applicants and lose out on great talent, but they will also hurt their company’s reputation and ability to deliver business results.“

In addition to the survey of U.S. adults employed part-time and full-time, the report also includes data points from iCIMS’ platform, which is drawn from a database of more than 61 million applications and 3 million jobs posted per year by more than 3,500 customers worldwide.

Key data points from iCIMS’ system data include:

Application Trends:

• Candidates who abandon the online application process tend to spend an average of four minutes applying before deciding to leave the page and not complete the application.
• The most popular day applications are completed is Tuesday followed by Wednesday. The least amount of applications are completed Friday through Sunday.

Key findings from the survey include:

Why Candidate Experience Matters:

• An overwhelming majority (95 percent) agree that the way a potential employer treats them as a candidate is a reflection of how they would treat them as an employee.
• Communication is key, 76 percent of people say not hearing back from an employer after applying for a job is more frustrating than not hearing from someone after a first date.

Insights into the Application and Interview Process:

• Candidates want convenient ways to communicate with employers, nearly 90 percent of people agree that it would be beneficial to receive text messages during the job application process.
• The clear majority of job seekers (about 70 percent) use Google as part of their typical process to search for open jobs and research potential employers.
• Nearly three-in-five (59 percent) job candidates have abandoned an online application specifically because there were issues or bugs with the online career site.
• Nearly two-in-three (65 percent) agree that recent security breaches have made them less likely to apply for a job through social media.
• More than a quarter (26 percent) of Americans who were employed elsewhere while interviewing had to take off three or more days to interview for their current job.
• More than a quarter of working Americans weren’t actively looking for a job when they found their current job. Additionally, more than half (51 percent) of employees admitting they’d consider taking another job if the right opportunity came along.

To view the full report, please visit Hiring Insights.