What is candidate experience?
Candidate experience is a job seeker’s evaluation of the hiring process at your company. It’s influenced by a variety of factors, including the interactions between the candidate and the company, application procedures, screenings, interviews and onboarding. A candidate’s experiencerefers to the moments when they interact with recruiters and the hiring team and the comfort and clarity they have throughout the phase overall.
Why is candidate experience important?
It’s important to ensure your candidates have a positive experience during the hiring process because it gives them an idea of how your company will treat them when they become employees. If you’re professional, prepared and courteous, candidates will expect similar behavior when working for you. Making employees feel comfortable and excited throughout the hiring process makes them more enthusiastic to join your team. This can lead candidates to tell others about their positive experiences, creatinga strong reputation for your organization.
Additionally, positive assessments can set candidates up for success once they are hired. When the work begins, an established sense of positivity can help you build trust with new employees, which can then improve early collaboration efforts. And because successful onboarding can boost employee engagement and retention rates, making a favorable impression right away is worth it for the future of the role you’re filling.
How candidate experience affects the recruiting funnel
Candidate experience has a significant effect on recruitment overall. And because a job seeker’s evaluation is formed across the entire process, improvement efforts should be made widely. Still,there are a few key points of interaction that are important to recognize. Here’s how candidate experience in recruitment affects each part of the hiring funnel.
Job search
The first interaction candidates have with your company will be through your job listings. This could be viasocial media, the career page on your website or job boards. Easily locating your job posting on these outlets will be the first step to the candidate having a positive hiring experience with your organization.Writing an effective job description can also help candidates feel confident in their knowledge of the role before they apply.
Application
When candidates find your job posting and want to learn more about the job title, they’ll start the application process.Upon applying, the candidateshould have a clear idea of the responsibilities, experience and skills expected of them.It’s up to you to ensure the list of requirements and qualifications is thorough and relevant.
There must also be straightforward and concise instructions explaining what materials the candidate needs to apply for the role correctly. This might include filling out an application through your online system, submitting a resume, writing a cover letter or linking to their online work portfolio.Providing a description of the next steps in the process can also help candidates prepare for what will follow.
Interview
The interview stage offers anopportunity for you and the candidate to get to know each other—and for them to learn more about your organization. Following an effectiveinterview strategycan help you provide a professional, positive candidate experience. Explain what your hiring process is like during your initial screening so candidates know what to expect from start to finish. For example, the first step could be a screening with the recruiter, followed by a video interview with the department heada fewdays after the screening and an in-person interview a week later.
Go through the same interview process for each candidate, and be sure to consistently communicate with each one along the way. For instance, if you decide that a candidate is no longer a great fit for the role throughout the hiring process, professionally notify them of this in a timely manner. The same goesfor candidates who are still in consideration. Quick and informative feedback during the interview process is critical to maintaining a positive candidate experience.
Onboarding process
The first day in the role is still part of the candidate experience. At this time, it’s important to demonstrate that your company is thecollaborative, engaging and interactive workplace they expect it to be. Consulting a new hire checklist can help you cover the key part of the onboarding experience. Make sure you provide new hires withclear instructions and training materials to help them feel informed, prepared and confident as they start their new roles.
Tips for improving the candidate experience
An assessment of your hiring procedures can reveal some areas of improvement that may strengthen the candidate experience. Here are some places to start.
Write relevant and easily understandable job descriptions
Make sure the job descriptions you post are relevant, clear and easy to follow. A candidate should know exactly what’s expected of them in both the role and throughout the hiring process after reading your job description.
Try to make sure yourrole requirements are thorough but not unnecessarily long. This can encourage candidates with relevant experience to apply even with unique qualifications.You can also increase the readability of your job description by listing the most important job details in short bullet points using action verbs.
Provide clear application instructions
Applying to your jobs should be a simple process. Ideally, your website’s Careers page will be easy to find and navigate, with a clear showing of the open positions. Try to make the application process straightforward with instructions detailing which materials candidates need to apply for the role.
An effective job application refrains from unnecessary steps. Avoiding redundant questions can encourage candidates to complete the application in full and shows that you value their time as much as your own. For example, if you require candidates to submit a resume, they likely don’t need to copy this information to their application in extensive detail. Consider optimizing your application for mobileuse to allow candidates to apply from anywhere, and send a confirmation email to notify them that they successfully applied for the role.
Maintain constant communication
Candidates value constant communication with employers. It can help them feel less overwhelmed while waitingfor a follow-up and allows them to adjust their schedules accordingly to make time for upcoming interviews. It’s best to communicate promptly to ensure they’re prepared for the next steps in the hiring process and to show that you’re still considering them for the role.
When it’s time to interview candidates, clearly relay the meeting details. This means letting them know whothey’re meeting with, where the interview will take place and an estimate of how long it will take. If they’re coming into the office, it might be helpful to explain the office’s dress code and whether they need to check in at the front desk when entering the building. If your parking situation is unique, consider explaining this too.
Overall, stay professional, courteous and transparent from the recruitment period to the interviewing and onboarding phase. Clear instructions can make your candidates feel confident and less nervous throughout the entire hiring process.And because candidates could potentially become employees, offering information when necessary can demonstrate your intention to communicate effectively in the workplace.
FAQs about candidate experience
How can I measure candidate experience?
Regularly assessing your hiring strategy can help you identify areas of improvement. Finding ways to measure candidate experience is an important part of evaluating the success of your procedures.
You can use key performance indicators, or KPIs, to assess your candidate experience. These are quantifiable metrics that can shed light on a strategy’seffectiveness. In this case, relevant KPIs include:
- Application completion rate
- Time to hire
- Offer acceptance rate
Additionally, you can ask candidates to complete a survey regarding their experience. These responses may illuminate issues previously unknown to you and are valuable sources of feedback worth acting on.
What is the application black hole?
Of course, not every candidate will be the right choice for a role. But even when you choose to go in another direction, letting an applicant know they are no longer being considered is one final courtesy worth extending. Applications that never receive a response fall into the “black hole,” as it’s known among job seekers. Following up with everyone can improve all candidates’ experience and shows that good communication is a reliable part of your employer brand.
