Are you making these recruiting mistakes?

A new report found that job candidates are frustrated with long waiting times and poor communication in the hiring processes.

Insights from Cronofy’s annual Candidate Expectations report revealed the increasing psychological burdens candidates face due to prolonged interview scheduling and lack of communication.

Cronofy, an embedded scheduler for teams, surveyed 12,000 candidates across seven countries in Europe and North America, to gain insights into what candidates want out of the hiring experience.

Candidates from the U.K., France, Germany, USA, Spain, Canada and the Netherlands shared that long wait times to schedule interviews, ghosting and a lack of communication are placing higher psychological burdens on candidates than ever before.

The most frustrating issue in recruiting, according to 28 per cent of candidates, is lack of responsiveness and poor communication. Neurodiverse candidates feel the effects of inefficient interview processes even more keenly, reporting higher levels of stress at 56 per cent, compared to the global population’s 38 per cent.

Amidst layoffs, candidates reported feeling that the market is starkly less stable compared to previous years. In 2024, a higher proportion (36 per cent) of candidates are waiting a month or more before disengaging from an interview scheduling process, up 12 per cent from last year. Just 12 per cent of candidates would disengage after one week, which is less than half compared to 2023.

The percentage of candidates expecting to wait a month or more for their first interview has nearly tripled from last year, rising from 5 per cent to 14 per cent. The largest proportion of candidates (31 per cent) report that their first interview took as long as 2-3 weeks to schedule, presenting a missed opportunity for recruiters looking to recruit top candidates, the company observed.