CareerBuilder Survey Finds 55 Percent of Hiring Managers Plan to Hire New Employees This Year
Majority of Hiring Managers Expect to Fill Positions in 30 Days or Less
CHICAGO, March 7, 2003 - Despite the challenges of today's economy, more than half of hiring managers said they plan to hire new employees in 2003, according to the results of a recent CareerBuilder survey. Of those who planned to hire, 13 percent expected to hire 100 employees or more while 48 percent expected to hire 10 employees or less. The CareerBuilder survey, "Life at Work 2003," was completed on March 3, 2003.
The top three reasons given for hiring new employees were to increase productivity and the numbers of customers served; improve customer service; and improve efficiency.
"Companies are adjusting their staffing levels to meet market demands and deliver organizational objectives," said Eric Lochner, vice president of corporate marketing for CareerBuilder. "With these goals in mind, hiring managers continue to be highly selective in the recruitment process to fill open positions with the best candidates."
The Hiring Process
The trend in consensus hiring continues with more than half of hiring managers indicating that three people or more are required to make the hiring decision. More than two-thirds of hiring managers said they anticipate filling open positions in 30 days or less with one-third of these managers expecting to fill open positions in 14 days or less. For eight percent of hiring managers, the hiring process is expected to take three months or longer.
What Hiring Managers Want in a Résumé
When considering candidates, 71 percent of hiring managers said they would think highly of those who submitted résumés that were customized for the open position. Sixty-six percent preferred to receive an appropriate cover letter with a résumé.
More than one-third of hiring managers stated that their company did not acknowledge the receipt of a résumé while one-fourth did acknowledge receipt with a phone call and 17 percent sent a form letter.
"The combination of a customized résumé and well-written cover letter is the one of best ways for job seekers to market their talents and experience to hiring managers," said Lochner. "Before sending off a résumé to a hiring manager, job seekers must check it thoroughly for any typos or grammatical flaws because forty-seven percent of hiring managers will not even consider a candidate whose résumé includes errors in spelling or grammar."
The Survey
The new CareerBuilder survey, "Life at Work 2003," was conducted from February 20 to March 3, 2003 of more than 2,600 survey respondents including 290 hiring managers. To collect data for the survey, CareerBuilder commissioned SurveySite to use an e-mail methodology whereby individuals who are members of SurveySite Web Panel were randomly selected and approached by e-mail invitation to participate in the online survey. The results of this survey are accurate within +/- 1.9 percent.
About CareerBuilder
CareerBuilder is a leading online source for maximizing recruitment dollars and optimizing job searches with superior products, customer service and technology. With a unique combination of national, local and niche audiences, CareerBuilder makes it easy for recruiters to reach the most qualified candidates with industry-leading market research data and support. Job seekers can search for the right job from more than 400,000 continuously updated postings, representing more than 25,000 of the top employers in virtually every industry, field and location. Together with Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company (NYSE:TRB) and Knight-Ridder Inc. (NYSE: KRI), CareerBuilder includes the Web's top newspaper sites - the most trusted employment sources in recruiting. For more information about CareerBuilder products and services, call 888-670-TEAM or visit CareerBuilder at http://www.careerbuilder.com.
CareerBuilder Media Contact
For all media inquiries and interview requests, contact:
Jennifer Grasz
(P) 773-527-1164
(E) jennifer.grasz@careerbuilder.com
