WORK DEMANDS. What do job seekers want today?

There is a constant swayamvara in progress on job sites. Companies keep posting openings in a bid to woo the best candidates. Yet job seekers don’t always click through. Why?

According to Sashi Kumar, head of sales at Indeed.com, a jobs aggregation site, every job seeker today shops differently online. But a few common trends are observed.

At the first level, on online job sites, more people are likely to respond when all the details of the job are posted, the descriptions are simple, and when the application process is easy. “If you have 50 steps in the job application process, then that is a no-no. Very few are likely to complete the process,” he points out. For youngsters, ease of application, a seamless navigation experience, peer reviews – what people are saying about the company on sites such as Glassdoor - all matter. So does employer brand.

Contrary to perception, Sashi Kumar says most people are not passive when it comes to job search. A survey conducted by Indeed.com showed that 78 per cent of people (many of whom may already be employed) keep looking online for new job prospects, and 59 per cent of them look at least once a month.

Only 22 per cent never looked. Forty per cent of people said they subscribed to job alerts.

Even newly hired people start looking for jobs within 91 days of joining a workplace!

Job seekers – especially millennials – are getting exceedingly picky and choosy, agree panelists in a session that tries to decode the aspirant’s mind at the SHRM HR Tech conference. So what exactly are they seeking?

“People are hungry for more experiences and more learnings. Both internal talent and outside talent are also seeking a defining purpose,” says R. Mahalakshmi, Director – HR, Mondelez India Pvt Food Ltd.

Quiz her later on this, pointing out that survey after survey shows that ultimately money dictates a job move, and she says, “Money is hygiene.” The next differentiator is a great workplace experience. But having said that she also points out that more people today are likely to not pick up a job but set up an enterprise on their own if they do not find what they are looking for. They are less likely to “settle” for something.

There is a huge change in a job seeker’s attitude today, sums up Biplob Banerjee, EVP - HR, Admin & CSR, Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd. He points to a lot of trends ranging from helicopter parents to technology to multigenerational workforce all changing attitudes to work.

Recruiters today, no doubt, have to think differently to attract talent. And in the era of smartphones, the first step begins by making job postings simple.

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