Scenarios once associated with dating now apply to finding a job. First there were stories of job seekers "ghosting" employers by not showing up to interviews. Now, it seems that applicants are simply losing interest— after just one week.
For the first time in U.S. history, the American economy has more unfilled jobs than people out of work, and this tight labor market is giving workers serious confidence in their ability to find new jobs.
Staffing and search firm Addison Group recently surveyed over 1,000 job seekers and found that 70 percent of job applicants will lose interest in a role if they have not heard back from the employer a week after the first interview.
Researchers also found that 82 percent of job seekers expect to find a new role after less than six months of job hunting, 66 percent expect to go through two rounds or less of interviews before learning if they got the job, and 69 percent of job seekers are optimistic or very optimistic about the job market.
"With the job market being as tight and competitive as it is, job seekers know that they will be snatched up by the next company if they don't hear from another one in a timely manner," Thomas B. Moran, CEO of Addison Group tells CNBC Make It. "This is where speed and transparency are key. The faster you can secure a candidate or inform them of the expected timeline before they receive an offer, the better."
Anyone who's ever hired a new employee knows that a week is not a lot of time. Employers often aim to consider a wide range of candidates and may check references in between interview stages. Moran says employers need to be transparent and maintain communication if they will need more than a week before providing new information to an applicant.
"If hiring managers or recruiters know the hiring process may be held up for whatever reason, they need to relay that to candidates so that they don't lose interest prematurely," he says.
These dynamics create an incredibly favorable situation for interviewees: More than half (about 54 percent) of those surveyed have negotiated with their current employer.
"This is an optimal time for workers to leverage the tight labor market and negotiate their salaries or benefits. Employers know that their employees could go elsewhere to find a higher salary, more PTO or other benefits, and are thus more apt to meet their requests," explains Moran. "Given that unemployment is so low and that demand is far outweighing the supply, now is an ideal time for those who have been thinking about a career change to pursue their options."
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