November 2021

Tech

Industry Benchmarking

Industry Benchmarking Overview

The Employer Branding Audit team of kariera.gr performed a benchmarking audit of the tech industry targeting 65 companies. We have separated these companies into two big categories: B2B / Business-to-Business services (37 out of the 62 companies) and B2C / Business-to-Consumer services (28 out of the 62 companies). The auditing procedure was completed with respect to external research conducted on the Employer’s company and career site, as well as the candidate experience starting from job-hunting to receiving feedback from the Employer regarding the application.
Through the Tech Industry Benchmarking we aimed to review and measure data gathered among similar targeted businesses from that specific labor sector. In this case, the industry benchmarking was implemented to determine how the targeted companies perform towards the tech industry.

Insight by kariera.gr

For the last few years, Employer Branding is recognised as one of the fundamental elements for a company’s growth and development because it indicates the value a company has as an employer, both to its current and future employees. However, the reason why Employer Branding is vital and companies all over the world need to invest in it, is mainly because it establishes a strong and positive brand name and it attracts and secures/maintains the talent pool you’re looking for.

Why is Employer Branding important?

  • 75% of the candidates are more likely to apply for a position at a company with an active Employer Branding strategy/program.
  • 92% of the current employees would consider moving to another company/position if they could get a proposal from a company with a strong brand name.
  • A strong employer brand is possible to decrease its cost per hire up to 50%, while a weak employer brand can result in an increase of cost per hire up to 10%.

Methodology

The outcome of the Industry Benchmarking is the result of the collection, analysis and comparison of data from 62 tech companies. We categorized them in 5 Sub-Industries: Information & Technology Services, Computer Software, Internet, Financial Services and Entertainment.

We reviewed the 4 components of the Employer Branding:

Employee Value Proposition (EVP)

• Vision, values and team appearance through the corporate or career site
• Provision of compensation and benefits that match the candidate’s qualification and expectation
• Development Opportunities (mentoring, training, career paths etc)
• Internship and Graduate programs to create potential young professionals

Candidate Experience

• End-to-end recruitment process that job seekers come across in order to attach their CV or apply to a job opening in each of the 26 retail companies.
• A Mystery Candidate profile to investigate in depth the application process
• Τhorough examination of application process via Mobile for user-friendliness and optimization.

Channel Effectiveness

• Evaluation of the job ads posted into the company’s career site or microsite, in comparison of it’s participation at any Job Boards ( such as: kariera.gr, Skywalker.gr, Jobfind etc) and LinkedIn
• Research on 6 main social media channels: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube and Tik Tok about online HR presence and display of job opportunities

Career Site

• Evaluation of the career site or microsite’s content and structure
• Evaluation of job postings content and job descriptions
• Evaluation of the career site whether it is Mobile friendly and optimized

Employee Value Proposition

Employee Value Proposition is the promise you make as an employer to your employees in return for their commitment. This promise entails the sum of all the benefits and rewards employees receive from the organization they work for. Pawar and Charak (2015) define the EVP as the one of a kind arrangement of benefits an employee gets consequently for the skills, capabilities, and experience they convey to an organization. Your EVP is the core of your Employer Brand and should characterize the substance of your organization and why it is unique.

Insight by kariera.gr

A defined EVP is vital for the attraction of new employees and the retention of the current ones. It is an initial vital step when aiming to communicate to candidates why they offer a great place to work in. When an employer forms the company’s EVP it’s necessary to think that these values will attract the right candidates!

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11,5%

3 out of 26 present their job openings
via social media

11,5%

3 out of 26 present their job openings
via social media

11,5%

3 out of 26 present their job openings
via social media

11,5%

3 out of 26 present their job openings
via social media

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11,5%

3 out of 26 present their job openings
via social media

11,5%

3 out of 26 present their job openings
via social media

11,5%

3 out of 26 present their job openings
via social media

11,5%

3 out of 26 present their job openings
via social media

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18,5%

3 out of 26 present their job openings
via social media

11,5%

3 out of 26 present their job openings
via social media

11,5%

3 out of 26 present their job openings
via social media

11,5%

3 out of 26 present their job openings
via social media

Channel Effectiveness

The research was conducted on Job Boards and Social Media. We categorize these channels as tools that employers can use to advertise their job openings. We examined the presence of these 65 companies in the following Job Boards: kariera.gr, Skywalker, Indeed, JobFind, CollegeLink and we included in our research LinkedIn too. We observed that 3 of them are the most preferred among the tech industry.
Additionally, we examined the following social media channels: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok to find out whether the companies use them to promote their vacancies or share content regarding their Human Resources. Most companies tend to capitalize 3 of them with valuable content.

Job Boards

Insight by kariera.gr

No matter how attractive a company’s brand is, keep in mind that the largest volume of CVs, as well as the employer’s reach, is the result of the employer’s exposure on Job Boards. Candidates tend to subscribe and trust at least one job board from the beginning and throughout their career and so the chances to apply to a position of a potential employer are increased. 

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In Conclusion

Based on our research most of the tech companies use an average of 1-3 Job Boards for the promotion of their Job Openings. A company who is presenting  its vacancies through a Job Board has the opportunity to establish a strong corporate profile among prospective candidates. At the same time, it offers a platform to the company for further deployment of its human touch with potential candidates through sharing experiences of current employees’ ( e.g. testimonials). Last but not at all least, the company can share in these profiles their social media accounts in order to expand their network of followers, thus attracting more potential candidates.

Social Media

Insight by kariera.gr

Social Media is one of the main sources a potential candidate will use in order to know the employer better, before he/she applies. Specifically, 68% of Millennials, 54% of Gen-Xers, and 48% of Boomers have stated that they first visit the employer’s social media accounts before entering the application process. As indicated, a strong image on social media is a key factor in determining your Employer Brand (Glassdoor).

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LinkedIn

27/28

Facebook

26/28

Twitter

24/28

YouΤube

23/28

Instagram

23/28

TikTok

2/28

How often the companies upload new content on their accounts

Frequently (every 1-2 days): 12/28 42.8 %
Occasionally (once per 1-2 weeks): 11/28 39.3 %
Rarely: 4/28 14.3 %
Never: 1/28 3.6 %

10.7%

3 out of 28 present their
job openings via
their social media

67.9%

19 out of 28 post their
job openings only on
their LinkedIn account  

3.6%

1 out of 28 companies have a page or social media account dedicated to Human Resources

Posts dedicated on employees on the companies’ social media accounts

(if there is not a HR related social media account)

Frequently (every 1-2 days): 0/26 0 %
Occasionally (once per 1-2 weeks): 7/26 26.9 %
Only on LinkedIn account: 4/26 15.4 %
Rarely: 7/26 26.9 %
Never: 8/26 30.8 %

In Conclusion

The majority of the B2C companies we researched have social media accounts on at least 3 different platforms. LinkedIn and Facebook are the two most preferred ones, followed by Twitter. Most companies share content on social media daily or frequently but only 7 of them post content (once per 1-2 weeks) about their people, while only 2 B2C companies have a channel dedicated to their HR. We noticed that only 3 companies are using their social media to promote their job openings, while the majority of the B2C companies (67.9% of them) are doing it only on LinkedIn. In that way, candidates who don’t own a LinkedIn account will never have the opportunity to submit their application and be informed of open positions. Last, but not at all least, 30.8% of the B2B companies have never posted anything about their employees.

Career Site

A significant amount of the tech companies that we examined have a career site. The main area of focus was based on whether the pages include information about the company, the hiring process, the bilinguality of the career site, corporate/people videos, job postings’ content and the option to address their CV on a Job Alert section.

Insight by kariera.gr

The career site should offer the opportunity for job seekers to sign up to job alerts for the positions they desire in the future; the candidate re-engages with the employer when the desired job opening becomes available. The career site’s key connection between employers and employees is its optimization; provision of multilingual content, clear communication, and a list of the reasons (e.g. EVP) why the candidate should prefer the employer is the next step that the company should take!

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Candidate Experience

The candidate experience was examined through the hiring process each company has set for the candidates. A mystery candidate profile was created and completed the application process from the beginning (searching for career opportunities) until the end (submitting the application). The Mystery Candidate applied to Job Openings and completed the “Join the Talent Pool” process or whichever of the options the employer’s career site was offering. Also, we examined if the career site is mobile friendly and optimized; most of the companies have a mobile friendly career site, but less than half of them are optimized.

Insight by kariera.gr

The average candidate spends 3-4 hours submitting a single application, while 70% of companies think it takes them less than an hour. According to studies from recruitment companies, recruiters can boost conversion rates (candidates viewing a job ad who go on to complete an application) by up to 365 percent by reducing the length of the application process to five minutes or less. 60% of job seekers quit in the middle of filling out online job applications.

Talent Pool

We examined 28 out of 62 companies who offer the candidates the option to join their Talent Pool. The Mystery Candidate applied to each one of them and documented the required steps and fields until the submission as well as if there was any response from the companies.

Insight by kariera.gr

Creating a Talent Pool can be a factor of success for the Employer. It optimizes the company’s (or HR’s) processes, it gives a wide variation of candidates to choose from and is a great opportunity to create engagement with potential employers. By creating a connection with the candidate there is a positive influence on the employee brand!

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Talent Pool: 12/28 42.9 %

Required fields

Just email required: 6/12 50 %
1-3 required fields: 2/12 16.7 %
4-9 required fields: 4/12 33.3 %
10+ required fields: 0/12 0 %

Required steps

1-3 required steps: 8/12 66.7 %
4-9 required steps: 4/12 33.3 %

41,6%

5 out of 12 responded with automated email

0%

0 out of 12 followed up with personal email

In Conclusion

Regarding the B2C companies, we noticed that half of them (42.9%) have an active enabler for the candidate to enroll in their Talent Pool. In that way, he/she can stay in touch with the organization for future job opportunities. As for the application process in the company’s Talent Pool, the majority (66.7%) have a relatively short process of 1-3 steps, simplifying the experience of the candidate. At the same time, 4 out of 12 B2C companies either have the candidate complete an average of 4-9 fields before submitting his/her CV. Finally, we submitted an application to all these companies through our Mystery Candidate profiles and only 5 of them (41.6%) answered back with an automated answer while no one replied with a personalized email.

Job Openings

We examined the companies that include a Job Openings section on their career site as well as the content they share in their open vacancies. Most of the companies (51 out of 62) include Job Openings on their career site and the Mystery Candidate applied to each one of them in order to evaluate the required steps and fields until the submission as well as the process of communication delivered by each company. 

Insight by kariera.gr

A full job description gives job seekers and potential employees a clear and concise resource to be used as a guide for the new career path. Job requirements are vital, both for employers and job seekers alike. The main thing they achieve is that the candidate knows what is expected of them before they apply for a position.

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Job Openings section: 22/28 78.6 %

Job Openings Statistics

Search job position by field / specialty: 12/22 54.5 %
“Share this position” button: 15/22 77.3 %

Required fields

Just email required: 0/22 0 %
1-3 required fields: 0/22 0 %
4-9 required fields: 18/22 81.8 %
10+ required fields: 4/22 18.2 %

Required steps

1-3 required steps: 8/22 36.4 %
4-9 required steps: 14/22 63.6 %
10+ required steps: 0/22 0 %

91%

20 out of 22 responded with automated email

20%

4 out of 20 followed up with personalized email

In Conclusion

Regarding the B2C companies we noticed that the majority of them (22 out of 28) have available career opportunities on their website. It’s quite important to mention that 77.3% of them offer candidates the space to share a position with a friend or relative, which makes it much easier to increase the number of applications an organization receives. Also, more than half of them (54.5%) have a search option per field / specialty  on their career sites, a factor that helps the candidates to find the position they are interested in faster. Lack of this factor will decrease the overall candidate experience. As for the application process, most companies (81.8%) have 4-9 fields to fill in each application while in most companies the candidate has to follow 4-9 steps till it’s final submission. This could lead the average candidate to drop out of his/her application. Finally, we submitted applications to all these companies through our Mystery Candidate profiles and the majority of them (80%) sent a reply letter to our applicant. This contributes positively to the final experience of the candidate regardless of the result.

Application via Mobile

We examined the companies to find out if their career site is mobile friendly*, optimised** or both. Our Mystery Candidate went through the application process and the examination’s conclusion was that all the companies have a mobile-friendly career site, with the majority of them having a mobile-optimized career site. 

Insight by kariera.gr

90% of job seekers now use their smartphones or other mobile devices for searching for new opportunities. 

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Statistics about the 26 companies who own a career site:

26/26 have a Mobile-Friendly career site 100 %
25/26 have a Mobile-Optimized career site 96.2 %

Regarding the 22 companies who have a Job Openings section:

Allow the candidate to apply to a job opening via mobile: 21/22 95.5 %

*Mobile Friendly: The career site automatically orients itself based on the screen size of the mobile device, but it’s not designed to maximize user experience.

**Mobile Optimized:a mobile-optimized website is designed for smaller screens and built using a mobile-first approach that will reformat itself for mobile users. All mobile-optimized sites are made to make the website as frictionless as possible for mobile users.

In Conclusion

All the Β2C companies have a mobile friendly site (corporate and career). The majority of them (96.2%) offer an optimized experience to the candidates. Precisely, 95.5% of those who have open positions allow the candidate to apply via mobile device without facing any serious issues. This is very important as now an extremely large number of candidates make applications mainly through their mobile devices. 

Thank you

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