People have considerable complaints about the job hunting process

Job hunters have revealed their biggest complaints when looking for a new role - being turned down due to “no experience,” the interview process being too long and lack of information on salaries being offered.

A study of 2,000 adults who've sought new employment in the past five years found they’ll typically spend four hours applying for a single job – with 33% of applications resulting in an interview.

But 75% find the entire process “stressful” and “time-consuming” – with common frustrations including unnecessarily lengthy interview processes and misleading job postings.

And lack of clarity on the annual salary – for instance, large salary ranges – is a significant issue, especially for the 54% who’ve declined a job offer upon discovering what they’d be earning.

The research, commissioned by Adzuna and conducted by OnePoll, found 77% believe companies should be more transparent in their job postings.

This could be concerning to businesses as it could be detrimental to their reputation – impacting their ability to find talented staff.

Nearly a third (32%) said suspect the employer is hiding something if they don’t include salary information in ads.

Similarly, 28% said such practices make a business appear untrustworthy and 29% said they appear unprofessional.

While 56% revealed they simply wouldn’t accept an interview offer if they didn’t know about the compensation offered by a prospective employer.

"With all the time and effort that goes into applying for jobs, it can be incredibly frustrating and stressful to stumble across issues along the way,” said Doug Monro, CEO and co-founder of Adzuna. “From the research, it’s plain to see salary is a critical component of the job process with jobseekers clearly pointing to a lack of clarity or detail on annual wages being a major frustration when applying for a job.

“Employers should be encouraged to be more transparent and include as many details on salaries in their job postings as possible to give candidates the financial peace of mind they need, as well as the all-important information around whether a role is right for them.”

And it’s not just salary info those polled are keen to see beforehand — workplace location and employee benefit plans are also important to many.

The study also found that 73% think greater transparency over salaries would make workplaces fairer.

Furthermore, 55% would be happy for their colleagues to know what they earn – with 31% neutral on the subject and just 9% unhappy.

“Jobseekers are increasingly concerned with finding employers that match their values and that they trust,” continued Doug Monro. “Being transparent by showing salaries on job postings is one way for companies to show they care about prioritizing fair pay.

“But there is room for improvement and the onus is now on companies doing their diligence to present job opportunities that fairly reward candidates.”

TOP 20 COMPLAINTS WHEN APPLYING FOR A NEW JOB

1. Turned down because ‘not enough experience’ despite already looking at the resume
2. Interview process dragging out over multiple weeks or even months
3. Lack of clarity on salary, e.g. ‘on target earnings’ or very large salary ranges
4. Saying you’re overqualified for a role – even though they’ve seen your resume
5. Not hearing back/not receiving a reply after applying
6. Needing to update your resume for every application
7. Not being totally transparent about the role/company after reading reviews online
8. Waiting too long to hear back after an interview
9. Too many stages to the interview process
10. Realizing mid-interview that this isn’t the job for you
11. Being asked inappropriate or offensive interview questions
12. Having to work half a day in the office as part of the interview process
13. Lack of feedback following rejection for a role
14. No salary being listed on the Job AD
15. Being asked irrelevant interview questions
16. Unclear stance on remote/hybrid/in-office working
17. Not offering desired staff perks or benefits
18. Misleading job ads
19. Unrealistic responsibilities/requirements
20. Rude or inappropriate interviewers

Survey methodology:

This random double-opt-in survey of 2,000 American adults who have ever looked for employment in the last five years was commissioned by Adzuna between September 26 and September 28, 2022. It was conducted by market research company OnePoll, whose team members are members of the Market Research Society and have corporate membership to the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) and the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR).