UK employers have shown a worrying lack of depth when it comes to recruiting as HR consultancy Reabur has discovered when it quizzed 1,021 business owners across the UK to discover what interview techniques and personality traits would make them less likely to hire an individual.
Excluding qualifications and experience, Reabur.com conducted the survey to discover what traits employers believe make an individual ‘unemployable’.
When asked the multi-answer question ‘which of the below traits would make you less likely to hire an individual?’ below are the top ten most common answers from respondents:
1. Poor personal hygiene – 68%
2. Negative body language – 64%
3. Poor speech and grammar – 59%
4. Dress sense – 56%
5. Bad attitude – 52%
6. Excessive body piercing or tattoos – 49%
7. Inappropriate sense of humour – 47%
8. Accent – 44%
9. Unattractive – 41%
10. Poor employment history – 38%
Seven per cent agreed that a ‘poor handshake’ would make them less likely to employ someone.
Kirsty Burgess, co-managing director of Reabur.com said:“These results demonstrate that despite an increasing amount of legislation protecting applicants from being rejected for reasons other than their skills and experience personal traits still appear to be a distinct factor in making a recruitment decision.
“Although I appreciate that we are all human this really shouldn’t be the case and therefore it is important that employers use robust recruitment methods. This will ensure a fair process and provide a justification to reject an applicant that will stand up if legally challenged.”
“With regard to people looking for employment, being invited for an interview by a potential employer is a great opportunity and we all know that first impressions count, especially when being interviewed. If you have an interview approaching, I would suggest dressing smartly, do your research into the Company and be professional and positive at all times.”