[Casual Interview Reality Survey] Approximately 2 out of 3 job seekers have experienced a decrease in their interest in a company after a casual interview. It is clear that the entrance to recruitment is becoming a factor in attrition.

uloqo Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo / Representative Director: Kensuke Sekigawa; hereinafter "uloqo"), which provides strategic RPO services, conducted a survey on the actual conditions of casual interviews, targeting 934 job seekers who have experienced casual interviews.

1. Background of the Casual Interview Reality Survey

Against the backdrop of a declining working-age population due to a declining birthrate and aging population, and an intense competition for AI and DX talent, the job market in 2026 is expected to remain a seller's market, requiring companies to engage in recruitment activities as "the chosen one." Given this background, the practice of "casual interviews," a casual dialogue setting that prioritizes companies "meeting and talking first" with job seekers and eliminates the selection process, is rapidly spreading.

However, there are many cases where "being casual" has become a loophole in ensuring the quality of interviews. Interviews that fail to meet job seekers' expectations can not only fail to create recruitment opportunities but can even lead to companies actively losing opportunities. This survey sheds light on these realities from the voices of job seekers.

Survey Results Summary

• 65% of job seekers have experienced a decrease in their interest in a company after a casual interview.

• Among them, 33% have had the same experience "multiple times."

• Approximately 66% of interviews that led to a decrease in interest contained content that was "less than publicly available information."

• HR personnel were the most common interviewers (40.4%).

• The decisive factors for the decrease in interest were all attributed to the recruitment side's preparation, design, and attitude.

• 85% of candidates whose interest decreased responded that they "would have joined depending on the quality of the interview."

2. Details of Survey Results

65% of job seekers experience a decrease in interest. 1 in 3 respond that they "have experienced it many times."

Among the 934 respondents, 65.0% (607 people) reported having experienced a decrease in their interest after a casual interview. Furthermore, 33.0% (308 people) responded that they "have experienced it many times."

The fact that one in three job seekers repeatedly loses interest in the same companies they desire indicates that the problem of casual interview quality is not just a matter for some companies, but a structural issue prevalent throughout the market. In free-text responses, comments such as "I strongly felt that HR personnel had absolutely no understanding of the actual work site" and "It felt like a place to be evaluated rather than understood" were observed.

"HR personnel" are the most common interviewers, revealing a lack of understanding of the work site.

Among those who experienced a decrease in interest during casual interviews, HR personnel were the most frequent interviewers at 40.4%, followed by on-site managers/members (36.4%), and management/executives (20.1%).

Furthermore, regarding the question of how they felt about the interviewer's understanding of the work site, it was revealed that more than 65% of respondents had experienced not being able to obtain more information than they expected.

85% of candidates whose interest decreased had the potential to "join depending on the quality of the interview."

When 607 people who had experienced a decrease in interest were asked, "If the interview quality had been high and they had been able to discuss on-site issues in depth, would they have joined the company?" (Figure 5), 53.2% answered "There was a possibility (they would have proceeded to selection)" and 31.8% answered "Very high (they would have been in their top choice group)," with a total of 85.0% responding that there was a possibility of joining. The possibility of candidates withdrawing due to the poor quality of a single interview after incurring recruitment costs for sending scouts, posting job advertisements, and arranging interviews is a potential loss, especially now, when recruitment is said to be difficult.

3. Comment from the Person in Charge

Kensuke Sekigawa, Representative Director, uloqo Inc.

This survey quantitatively demonstrates the structural dysfunction of casual interviews, which are considered the "entrance" to recruitment. This means that opportunity losses, where the costs incurred up to arranging an interview are nullified by a single flaw in interview design, have become commonplace.

In reality, 65% of candidates experienced a decrease in their interest through casual interviews, and 85% of them responded that they "would have joined depending on the quality of the interview." This result suggests that while companies tend to view casual interviews as "a place to meet first," candidates are evaluating the company based on that single interaction.

Even in a casual setting, approaching candidates without designing who communicates what and in what order can lead to significant opportunity losses in a company's recruitment activities. The results of this survey highlight the need for organizational design and preparation.

4. Survey Overview

Survey Name

Casual Interview Reality Survey

Target Audience

Men and women in their 20s to 70s who have previous job change experience

Number of Valid Responses

934 (766 males, 168 females)

Survey Method

Internet survey

Survey Period

February 19, 2026 - February 28, 2026

Survey Organizer

uloqo Inc.

5. About uloqo Inc.

uloqo Inc. is committed to resolving Japan's labor shortage and promoting DX (Digital Transformation), offering recruitment consulting and recruitment agency services with a strong focus on the digital domain. We advocate the importance of "strategic RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing)" for various recruitment challenges faced by companies.

We provide comprehensive, end-to-end support, from recruitment consulting and recruitment agency services specializing in digital and high-layer domains, to interview outsourcing, scout outsourcing, labor management outsourcing, organizational development consulting, evaluation system design support, and HR ERP implementation support.

〈Company Profile〉

Company Name: uloqo Inc.

URL：https://uloqo.net/

Established: April 1, 2016

Representative Director: Kensuke Sekigawa

Location: 202A Daini Kuyoh Bldg., 5-10-2 Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo

TEL: 03-6824-0430

Number of Employees: 75

Business Activities: Provision of strategic RPO, operation of our own media digireka!