Find out how today’s entry-level candidates are engaging with employers – download our infographic on the top resources candidates use to research companies here.
Most candidates won’t walk into an interview without doing their due diligence on a company. Whether it’s to better prepare for the interview itself or to get a sense of a company’s mission and values, candidates begin gathering information early on in their job search. But in such an information-rich age, which resources are candidates turning to in order to learn about a company?
It turns out company websites are still the most commonly used provider of information for prospective employees, according to data from our Candidate Experience Survey. Our Candidate Experience Survey measures the awareness, interest, and experiences of candidates on our platform as they move through the hiring processes of our company partners. In one part of the survey, we asked candidates to select all of the resources they used to research a company before and after receiving a match with said company. (A match occurs when a qualified candidate is identified, provided with more information about the role and the company, and then asked to apply for a position.)
Despite Generation Z’s affinity for social media and online platforms like YouTube, a company’s website ranks No. 1 for candidate education, with 84 percent of survey respondents reporting that they visited a company’s website after being matched with that company on RippleMatch.
The next most common resource for candidates is Glassdoor, with a little over half of matched candidates turning to Glassdoor for crowdsourced reviews of a company. We know how important company culture is to early career candidates, so it’s unsurprising that candidates are seeking out authentic information on how a company operates behind closed doors.
While LinkedIn Company pages are commonly used as research tools for candidates, other social media sites and career fairs appear to be the least useful for candidates to gather information about a company. Only 13 percent of candidates reported viewing a company’s social media after being matched with that company on RippleMatch, and only 5 percent of candidates cited a career fair as a means for gathering information on a company.
The main takeaways here? First, proactive outreach not only increases the share of interested candidates, but also the share of candidates that research a company. Significantly more candidates reported visiting a company’s website, Glassdoor page, and other resources after they were singled out to apply for an opportunity with a company. If candidates know you’re interested in them, they will put in the effort to learn more about your company.
Second, invest in your website. Make sure candidates can find important information about your mission and values, company culture, professional development opportunities, and any other value propositions. It might sound obvious, but having an easy-to-navigate website and robust careers page could make a big difference to the 84% of candidates who use that website to learn about your company.
Interested in measuring how early career candidates learn about your brand? Get in touch with our team today to learn more about our brand perception reports.
