Even though various factors are considered while deciding on taking a job, there is always one particular factor that attracts a job seeker. The respondents were provided with five factors and they were to choose any one of them or specify one factor that they preferred but was not mentioned in the list.
During a job search process, it is seen that job seekers mostly look for factors such as monthly salary, personal interest, company name & brand, travel distance, bonus & other benefits, etc. Given to choose from among these factors, a different perspective of job seekers’ job search behavior was revealed.
While it is assumed that monthly income is the most important factor considered by any job seeker, the report showed that more than 50% of the job seekers considered personal interest to be most important while looking for a job.
The results of the survey showed that 53% of the job seekers look for jobs that suits their personal interest followed by 18% of the people preferring company name & brand while choosing a job. Surprisingly, only 15.85% of the respondents revealed that monthly salary is very important in their job choice. A very small portion of the responded considered travel distance and bonus & other facilities while choosing a job.
Apart from these specific responses, many provided more than one factors. About 4% of the respondents said that monthly salary & personal interest attracts them the most while choosing a job, while 3% considered personal interest & brand name to be most important. The remaining wanted monthly salary & brand name, personal interest & other facilities and monthly salary & personal interest.
This survey reflects the job search behavior of job seekers today. The priority of job seekers has drastically changed from monthly income to job that suits their personal interest. Also, people are willing to work for companies with a huge brand name and reputation.
But, the question that lies is, if given an option, would a person choose a job different from his/her personal interest but offers nice salary or a job of personal interest with less salary? 4% of the respondents said that along with personal interest, salary is equally important to them.
The preference of people are also shifting from monetary to non-monetary factors like growth prospects, motivational factors, behavior & attitude of the boss, quality to work life, good exit policies, long term career prospects, flexible working hours, etc.
These findings suggests that companies, especially the HR Department should keep track of the ongoing job search behavior of the human resource in the market. Adjusting the policies and strategies according to the trends will definitely add up to proper human resource management. While formulating benefits plan, it is very important to consider intrinsic as well as extrinsic benefits.
