Next time you decide not to hire someone and fail to let the applicant know, you may want to consider how that reflects on your organization.

From the second job seekers are viewing your job ad and applying to your company, they are forming an opinion of who you are as an employer and as a business.

According to a new CareerBuilder survey of 3,900 U.S. workers, 82 percent of job applicants expect to hear back from a potential employer after applying for a job, regardless of whether they got the position or not, but 75 percent of workers never do.

Negative job applicant experiences like this one can be bad for business. In the same survey, 42 percent of workers said they would not seek employment at a company again if they were disappointed in the hiring process, and 22 percent said they would tell others not to work there.

Similarly, in its 2012 Candidate Experience Awards research released earlier this month, the Talent Board found that more than half of job candidates are likely or very likely to tell friends about an applicant experience, regardless of whether it is positive or negative. And more people are now more willing to share their applicant experiences on social platforms.

“From the second job seekers are viewing your job ad and applying to your company, they are forming an opinion of who you are as an employer and as a business,” Sanja Licina, senior director of talent intelligence at CareerBuilder, said in a statement. “One bad applicant experience can have a ripple effect with candidates not only vocalizing their dissatisfaction with how they were treated, but encouraging others not to apply or even buy products from that company.”

About a quarter of workers surveyed said they’ve had bad experiences when applying for a job. In addition to not hearing back from an employer, negative experiences included finding out in the interview that the position did not meet the advertised job description and meeting with an uninformed company representative.

Applicant experience cuts both ways, however. Fifty-six percent of applicants who had a positive experience while applying for a job, regardless of whether they were hired, said they would seek employment with that company again. Thirty-seven percent of respondents said they would tell others to apply for a job with that organization, and 23 percent would be more likely to purchase goods and services from the company.

How do you ensure a positive job applicant experience within your organization?

(Brand X Pictures/Thinkstock)