International workplace survey shows many Hungarian job seekers failing to market their talent to employers
A new international workplace survey has found that more than half of Hungary's job seekers feel that their CVs may not be presenting them to employers in the best possible way, while more than a third have concerns about how they perform during face-to-face job interviews.
The survey by global recruitment firm, Kelly Services, also found that many Hungarian workers admit to being untruthful about the information they present in their CVs and in job interviews.
The Kelly Services global survey sought the views of more than 115,000 people in 33 countries including almost 4,500 in Hungary on a wide range of issues about how they find work and how they deal with aspects of the recruitment process.
Amongst the key findings:
" 54% have doubts about whether their CV presents them in the best possible way
" 43% have doubts about how they perform in face-to-face job interviews
" 17% admit they have been untruthful on their CV or in a job interview
" Only 4% think that the level of education is the best indicator of job suitability
" 58% nominate 'waiting for a response' as the worst part of the recruitment process
" 81% believe that employers generally treat them fairly in job interviews
"Candidates often only get a brief chance to sell themselves to a potential employer so they need to make the most of every opportunity," Anikó Jónás, managing director of Kelly Services Hungary Ltd.
"This means having a well crafted CV and a clear idea of their own strengths as an employee. It also helps if candidates can gather some detail about the organization before an interview to identify how their particular experience and background can add value to the prospective employer".
The survey found that while 46% of recruits were confident that their CV did present them to employers in the best possible way, 25% said it did not and 29% were unsure.
Seventeen per cent of candidates admitted to being untruthful on their CV or in an interview. The most likely untruths were inflating salaries from past jobs and omitting negative details from the past. Men were more likely to tell more untruths than women.
While 57% of respondents said they performed well during face-to-face job interviews, 9% said they did not and 34% were unsure. Men were more confident in their ability in job interviews than women.
Despite the uncertainties on the part of some candidates about their capacity to perform well in the recruitment process, most feel that they get a fair hearing from employers. When asked if they felt employers treated them fairly in the interview process, 81% said they did, 17% said 'sometimes' and only 2% said 'never'.
Even though the task of applying for jobs and facing an interview can be daunting, it's not the worst part of the recruitment process according to candidates.
The worst aspect of the recruitment process, nominated by 58% of respondents was 'waiting for a response', followed by 'searching for jobs' and 'attending interviews' (both 14%), 'preparing resume/CVs' (8%) and 'filling in application forms' (7%).
The factors that best determine a person's job suitability were also canvassed in the survey. When asked what single attribute people considered to be the best indicator of job suitability, the most popular factor was 'attitude and personality', cited by 36%, followed closely by work experience (34%). Other factors such as interview performance, level of education, reference checks and psychological test results all rated relatively low.
The most common method used by respondents to find their most recent job was 'word of mouth', cited by 28% of people, followed by online advertisements (21%), 'other' methods (18%), and 'direct approach to an employer', 'direct call from an employer or recruiter' and newspaper advertisements (all 11%).
A total of 79% of respondents said they had posted their CV to an online database, however 60% of those respondents were unsatisfied with the response to their posting.
"This shows that candidates have embraced the Internet as a popular way of finding a job," said Anikó Jónás.
"People are now very confident about applying for jobs online, however employers still have some improvement to make in their response to online applications".
Kelly Services
Kelly Services, Inc. (NASDAQ: KELYA, KELYB) is a world leader in human resources solutions headquartered in Troy, Michigan, offering temporary staffing services, outsourcing, vendor on-site and full-time placement. Kelly operates in 37 countries and territories. Kelly provides employment to more than 750,000 employees annually, with skills including office services, accounting, engineering, information technology, law, science, marketing, creative services, light industrial, education, and health care. Revenue in 2007 was $5.7 billion. Visit www.kellyservices.com.
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Media contact:
Anikó Jónás
Tel: + 36 1 354 2772
E-mail: ajonas@kellyservices.hu