The Randstad Candidate Expectations survey, which was conducted online in September with 2,000 respondents across Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, also showed that 89% of jobseekers in the three countries were more likely to reject an offer if the process took more than four weeks.

For Malaysians, length of hiring process trumped all other factors such as the company’s overall reputation (41%), the recruiter or hiring manager (31%), communication levels throughout the process (34%) and the degree of personal human interaction (31%).

Singapore jobseekers gave similar responses, with 53% saying they would be affected by the length of hiring process, followed by the company’s reputation (43%) and the recruiter or hiring manager (43%).

“Jobseekers prioritise their own career development during the search process. As such, employers should adopt a needs-based approach towards recruitment by placing the jobseekers’ career objectives and goals first,” managing director for Randstad Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia, Michael Smith, said.

He added that regular updates from employers and face-to-face consultations with jobseekers could help reduce candidates’ stress throughout the recruitment process.

For all three countries, the bottom three considerations that impact a jobseeker’s experience are workplace environment, online presence and the use of innovative, emerging technologies.