It’s a tough world out there for the thousands of jobseekers in Europe. Application processes and corporate websites do not make things much easier.

The Lundquist Employer Branding Online Awards examined the ability of employers to reach jobseekers and the way brands communicate with applicants. In a survey of over 450 people in 57 countries, Lundquist found that 80% have careers websites solely designed for desktops, without mobile or social media variants. Additionally, only 30 companies have a dedicated careers-based social media presence.

Head of employer branding and digital strategist at Lundquist, Cristiano Poian, says, “Today, an applicant is not satisfied with basic information about the company and job vacancies, but is looking for concrete, credible and useful information and the opportunity to interact in ways and places typical of online communication in the so-called ‘SoLoMo’ era (Social, Local, Mobile).”

The research found that applicants are frustrated by the online application process as it tends not to be user-friendly and many find that companies are not very transparent in job descriptions. Of European companies, 80% or more fail to either inform a candidate of the progress of the application or to tell the candidate when a decision will be made regarding the application.

It’s not all bad though, 71% of companies show good SEO strategy as most are the first result on search engines.