Q&A with Kristin Thomas, Director of Employer Engagement at FlexJobs

Kristin Thomas, Director of Employer Engagement at FlexJobs, chats about how recruiters can stay ahead of candidate expectations.

How important is flexible working to candidates now? What can recruiters do to accommodate this?

From our own surveys and other outside data, we've seen flexibility grow to be very important to working professionals right now. In a survey of over 2,600 active job seekers last year, we found that:

• 97% say a job with flexibility would have a positive impact on their overall quality of life.
• 80% think it would make them more healthy.
• 87% think it would lower their stress.

One of the biggest complaints we hear from job seekers is that it's difficult to determine whether a job really offers flexibility by reading the job description. Recruiters who want to stand out can make sure their job descriptions and careers pages make it very clear which jobs are flexible, and what types of flexibility they offer. Job seekers are searching for keywords like telecommuting, flexible schedule, virtual job, and flextime, so the more those appear in a job description, the more likely recruiters will get in front of candidates.