Preliminary findings are out from Staffing.org’s 2007 Job Seeker’s and Employee’s Report. Among them:

50% of the respondents visit [company job sites] regularly or occasionally to look for opportunities. However, familiarity and experience has also fostered discrimination. 75% of all respondents are now consciously ranking the user experience on these sites and “red carding” sites that don’t measure up. 21% say that a poor website would “definitely” affect their decision to apply for a job.

A legacy career site can not only chase away jobseekers, but also customers. As we found in research published in our paper, Career Site 2.0: Taking the Lead in the War for Talent, the perception of your employment brand works both ways:

Candidates, commonly dissatisfied with their jobseeking experience, are also consumers. They transfer their jobseeking experience to the corporate brand, and they draw on their consumer web experiences to set their expectations for their online jobseeking experience.

Implementing a next generation candidate experience will attract and engage higher quality candidates and ultimately help win the war for talent.