Interesting statistics regarding company ratings and job seekers

As with everything else, the world has changed when it comes to public relations between a company and its consumers or in this case, a company and its job applicants.

There are some interesting statistics regarding how job seekers form opinions of companies, how they process those opinions, and what companies think of those opinions.

A Career Arc survey found that just 1 in 5 job applicants consider working for employers with a 1-star rating.

Conversely, 86% of companies think that online ratings are unfair.

There is obviously a distinct disconnect that exists.

Job seekers might be limiting their sights unnecessarily, and companies might have their head in the sand regarding their culture and/or environment.

1.

Job seekers - The key is to do your due diligence.

Don’t rely on a website to guide your career choices.

It is easy to find real people in your own network that are associated with a company in question.

Chances are, your network will provide a more relevant opinion as oppose to a possibly disgruntled employee from an area of the company that is not even relevant for where you are applying.

There is the old adage that someone who had a good experience at a restaurant will recommend that restaurant to another person.

Someone who had a poor experience at a restaurant, will tell 10 other people.

This same adage can also apply for negativity on the internet.

2.

Companies – Take a hard and serious look at your culture and the actions of your leaders.

Do not rely on human resources to “fix” the issue.

Do not rely on Marketing/P.R. to “paint” the story.

Increase the number of exit interviews and do it at all levels.

Glasses or Sunlight won’t help the person who doesn’t want to see.

Is your turnover really due to your demand for only the best employees? because whoever the best employees are, they still don’t seem to be choosing to work for you.

Determine how you can better support your employees.

Other interesting findings I found in the survey include:

- Women were 33% less likely than men to apply for a job at a 1-star rated company.

- Although baby boomers were twice as likely as millennials to report having been laid off or fired during their careers, millennials were 22% more likely than baby boomers to have a negative perception of the employer that laid them off.

-Millennials were 2.5 times more likely than Gen Xers to share negative perceptions of past employers on social media.

Farewell,

Mike