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Research Outline

Prepared for Sam H. | Delivered October 10, 2019

What Job Candidates Look for in a Company

Goals

To identify what job candidates look for in a company before applying, including how a company's ethos, corporate social responsibility and work environment impact whether or not candidates apply for a position as well as to identify if there are generational differences on what candidates are looking for.

Early Findings

  • Glassdoor's 2019 Mission & Culture Survey showed that company culture is becoming increasingly important to job candidates with 77% reporting they consider the culture of a company and 79% saying they consider the mission and purpose of a company prior to applying for a job. The survey also found that 73% of candidates will only apply for jobs with companies whose values align with their own.
  • The same study found that most millennials in the U.S. and U.K. believe culture is more important than salary when looking for a job.
  • Glassdoor has identified agility, collaboration, centralizing customer needs, execution, innovation, integrity, performance and respect as the most important elements of a company culture for attracting new candidates.
  • The application and new hire experience is important to prospective job candidates. In a 2018 survey of employees across multiple industries about their expectations around the hiring process, Career Builder found that 36% of potential employees expect to be able to communicate with a recruiter before applying, about 20% won't spend more than 10 minutes on and application, 31% expect to receive emails from potential employers about job opportunities that are personalized to them and not mass emails sent to all potential candidates, 82% expect to be regularly updated about the hiring process by the company and 55% will only wait two weeks before giving up on an opportunity if they haven't heard from the company about their application.
  • A similar survey about the hiring process conducted by Glassdoor found much of the same thing. In this survey, 43% reported wanting a quick and easy online application process, 58% reported wanting the company to communicate often and clearly during the process and 53% said they want the company to set clear expectations for them about the process.