Teleworking, taste for free time, less hierarchical relationships… The relationship of the French to their work has evolved since the Covid-19 pandemic. Executives, who are highly coveted, tend to be more demanding of recruiters, who therefore have more difficulty finding candidates. In 2023, 60% of companies that recruited had difficulty doing so, compared to barely 50% in 2019. according to a study by the Association for Executive Employment (Apec) published this Tuesday, May 28.
First reason cited by candidates, the duration of the recruitment process. More than half of the executives surveyed want to have a response to their application within less than three weeks and 90% of them do not want to have more than two or three job interviews. “If we add two months of recruitment to the four months of notice, six months is a long time. Half a year… Things happen in six months,” explains a young 25-year-old insurance manager at the ‘Apec. Conditions far from the habits of companies, which take on average nine weeks to hire someone and generally organize at least three meetings with different contacts.
In addition to faster recruitment, executives are also asking for more transparency in the process to better be able to anticipate it. Number of interviews, nature of tests and exercises to be completed, meeting with the team to assess working conditions… Candidates want to avoid unpleasant surprises and plan deadlines as early as possible on their calendar.
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Remuneration, the main criterion for choosing a job, is also questioned. According to the Apec study, 65% of executives want to have information on salary even before the first interview. However, financial discussions often take place later in the recruitment process and many applicants do not dare to ask the question for fear of being penalized.
This reluctance concerns other details, such as prospects for advancement within the company or workload. But it mainly concerns the human relationship between candidates and recruiters. “Many of the executives interviewed say they have been confronted with unbalanced processes which leave little room for the expression of their desires,” indicates Apec. Whether they are juniors or seniors, they say they want to be listened to more, answer personalized questions and receive feedback on their interviews, including in the event of a negative response. Delays, disrespectful comments, intrusive questions or the coldness of recruiters also create a climate of tension which can discourage executives from continuing the process.
These new trends among executives could well force companies to review their recruiting habits, for example by organizing fewer interviews, but longer and more detailed, by having more confidence in candidates, or by being more flexible and transparent the first contact to save time.