Most engg job seekers first check company website: Study

About 42% of engineering graduates surveyed considered company websites as the top source of information for the purpose

Most engineering job seekers visit the respective company websites to survey about the job and the potential employer before responding to job offers, according to a survey report.

About 42 per cent of engineering graduates surveyed considered company websites as the top source of information for the purpose, says the survey conducted by human resources and recruitment services company TMI Group.

The type of information they seek to assess a job opportunity is diverse. For 87.6 per cent of the respondents, comprehensive information about the specific job role is one of the essential parameters, while a near equal percentage claim they consider information about the company among the decisive factors. Other information jobseekers say they search for include stories by current and ex-employees and details of work environment and culture.

Consulting acquaintances, surfing social media pages of companies, which recruit, and accessing sources like magazines are the other popular ways to know further about potential employers, said the report.

"These findings come as eye opener for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). These revelations direct the SMEs towards the need of employer branding and Internet presence in attracting the right talent," said T Muralidharan, chairman of TMI Group.

The group surveyed 323 Bachelor of Engineering and Bachelor of Technology graduates from Hyderabad and Secunderabad, having up to five years of work experience.

"Nine out of ten websites of SMEs 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," said Srividya Viswanathan, executive vice president of JobsDialog, a SME- targeted recruitment solution from the TMI Group.

The report revealed the top reasons to discontinue pursuit of job opportunities. About 43 per cent of jobseekers gave up job opportunities if they found information about those opportunities is missing at the recruiter's website.

It also indicated 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.