'42% visit company websites before responding to job offers'

Most engineering job seekers, which amounts to about 42 per cent, visit company websites to learn about the job and the potential employer before responding to job offers, says a survey report.
About 42 per cent of engineering graduates surveyed considered company websites as the top source of information to learn about jobs and potential employers before responding to job opportunities, says a survey conducted by human resources and recruitment services firm TMI Group.
"These findings come as an eye opener for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). These revelations direct SMEs to the need for employer branding and Internet presence to attract the right talent," TMI Group Chairman T Muralidharan said.

The TMI Group surveyed 323 Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Technology graduates, across engineering streams, based in Hyderabad and Secunderabad, upto five years of work experience.
Around 34.4 per cent of jobseekers said that they would research the company through various websites on the Internet before deciding whether or not to pursue a job opportunity, the survey report said.
Consulting acquaintances, going through the social media pages of companies which recruit and reading from sources like magazines, are other popular options to know more about potential employers, the report said.

"Nine out of ten SME websites are customer centric. There is hardly any information in them, aimed at educating and attracting jobseekers. It is high time SMEs understood that employer branding is as important as product branding," TMI Group's SME targeted recruitment solution provider JobsDialog's Executive Vice President Srividya Viswanathan said.

The survey also found that jobseekers have diverse priorities while assessing job opportunities. For 87.6 per cent of respondents, comprehensive information about specific job roles is an essential parameter, while 86.7 per cent said that they considered information about companies as a decisive factor.
Other information jobseekers said that they looked for what current and former employees said about companies and details of work culture, the report said.
The report revealed that top reasons to discontinue pursuit of job opportunities. About 43 per cent of jobseekers gave up job opportunities if they found that information about those opportunities is missing at the recruiter's website.

It said 28 per cent felt they would not follow through job opportunities with companies which have no website, while for others, lack of social media presence and any Internet presence are reasons to do so.