Job seekers don’t like it when hiring managers ‘breadcrumb’ them

Catfishing and breadcrumbing. These are some of the challenges that today's job seekers may encounter from hiring managers, according to the latest survey from Robert Half.

Breadcrumbing is dangling just enough information to keep candidates engaged, sort of stringing them along. Catfishing is misleading information about what the job is and not being transparent about it.

Robert Half Regional Vice President Dora Onyschak said the survey found that 33% of senior managers are actually taking more time to hire in the current environment than they did in the past, hoping better candidates will come along.

She said this is unfortunate because on the flip side, 62% of job seekers said they lose interest in a job if they don't hear back from the prospective employer within two weeks of the initial interview.

The key takeaway from the survey is that employers have to be transparent with their candidates about the hiring process, said Onyschak. That means the timeline and the steps involved in the hiring process. That could mean multiple rounds of interviews with different managers, background checks and drug screenings. She said conducting skills testing and keeping applicants busy with online training are some strategies employers may use to keep candidates engaged.

Many employers feel they have a bigger pool of candidates to choose from, which they do, in regards to a lot of remote workers now being available for positions, she added. But even in today's market, the best candidates still have options.

The wait-and-see approach comes at a risk, said Onyschak. Those candidates who feel "breadcrumbed" or strung along by hiring managers will take action. She said 49% will ghost an employer and drop out of the process. So if a manager called the candidate three weeks, not two, after the initial interview, the candidate won't answer the phone. About 41% blacklist the company and refuse to consider them for future opportunities while 27% vent about their experience on their personal social media accounts and 26% leave a negative comment anonymously on review sites.

Onyschak said it's important for employers to speed up the hiring process. They need to make sure they sharpen that job description. Include the skills they're looking for and also focus on three to four crucial responsibilities so top applicants know that they have to have those skills.

Employers must also be sure they have the proper approvals in place. That way when it's time to hire, they know it's already approved and they know what kind of compensation they can provide.

Try and consolidate interviews. If an employer knows a candidate will be interviewing with multiple managers, try to schedule those interviews fairly close together.

Make sure to stay in touch with the candidate, said Onyschak. The candidate will lose interest if they are kept waiting without any communication. So hiring managers should be proactive when providing updates and respond to questions these job seekers may have.

Onyschak said another downside to employers stretching out the interview process is that they risk losing their staff's productivity from picking up the slack for the open position.