Hiring and Recruiting Strategies to Elevate the Candidate Experience

The hiring process presents an ideal opportunity to make a good first impression on candidates, but it can often leave them feeling frustrated. Here are five ways to inject greater humanity into your process — and get better results.

Key Takeaways

• Don’t get hamstrung on decisions. A drawn-out process can cost you a top candidate. Set clear timelines and stick to them. 
• Partner with your organization’s DEIB team to develop new hiring frameworks that consider diverse perspectives.
• Invest in a strong employer brand to attract great candidates and ultimately speed up the hiring process.

“Employers can’t continue to hire the way they’ve been hiring,” says Jessica Hardeman, Senior Director for Attraction and Engagement at Indeed. “The biggest disconnect I see is that candidates just want to be treated like human beings. But the human element has been taken out of the experience.”

In her role at Indeed, Hardeman has a clear view into the maze that candidates often navigate. Endless interview loops, unclear expectations and weak communication are common pitfalls, she says — and it’s not just candidates who lose when companies get hiring wrong. “The hiring process is the first interaction talent has with your organization,” Hardeman says. “This is your opportunity to show your approach to how you treat people under your care.”

We previously explored the “Great Disconnect” between what organizations offer and what job seekers expect. Now we’re zooming in on the hiring process itself and how it can be repaired. Hardeman offers five actionable steps that organizations can take to craft a candidate experience that offers greater humanity — and results. 

Five Ways to Optimize Your Candidate Experience

1. Focus on skills, not just years of experience and education.

Historically, companies have focused on candidates’ academic history and how long they’ve been working in a particular field or at a particular company to decide whether they are a fit. This approach screens out applicants who may not have extensive experience or a particular degree but still possess the skills they need for the role. 

To make the hiring process more equitable, focus on one question: Can this person do this job well? This approach, or skills-first hiring (also known as skills-based hiring), uses structured interviews, job assessments, job simulations and work samples to evaluate candidates’ competencies and potential.

“I’m looking beyond the companies that someone has worked for and really looking at the skills they have and how those skills match to the role,” Hardeman says. “At Indeed, for example, we undertook a huge project to review all of our job descriptions to reassess if they actually needed education requirements.”

Given that four-year degree requirements screen out more than half of the U.S. workforce, eliminating these requirements where they aren’t necessary may help make hiring more inclusive, but also faster and easier. Hiring managers who focus on skills find it twice as easy to find a good match than those who don’t. 

2. Make expedient hiring decisions and set clear timelines with candidates.

Examine your hiring timelines and see where they can be shortened, so you can make hiring decisions quickly and efficiently and not leave candidates in the dark. Hardeman believes that if companies get offers out to candidates faster, it could lead to a higher acceptance rate for those offers.

“You can lose good candidates when you get hamstrung on decisions,” Hardeman says. “Furthermore, an inability to make timely decisions can communicate deeper things about your company to a candidate.” 

If an applicant is treated carelessly while interviewing, why should they trust that the working culture at the organization will be any different? A drawn-out decision-making process can make a top candidate rethink their interest, while an efficient and personalized experience can help woo talent.

Hardeman understands that employers should strive to balance hiring efficiency with making the right hire. She suggests setting feedback timelines with candidates and sticking to those schedules. If a recruiter promises they’ll circle back by the end of the week, they should do so, even if a hiring decision hasn’t been made.

Hardeman also encourages companies to rethink how many interview rounds they need. “Does everyone have to talk to this candidate, or can we trust the expertise of a smaller group of people?” she says. “I recognize certain roles call for a certain number of interviews. But for a lot of roles, if you’re going past four rounds, what are you really looking for at that point?”

3. Leverage the expertise of your recruiting team and trust their knowledge.

Sometimes company leaders can lean on their own assumptions about what makes an ideal hiring process. Hardeman feels one of the biggest mistakes organizations can make is not treating their recruitment or talent acquisition teams as the subject matter experts they are when it comes to the hiring and interview process. 

“Your recruiting team understands the market, candidate expectations and industry trends, so look to them for guidance on how to improve your hiring process. Use the expertise of the people who have it,” Hardeman says. “Ask them what makes the most sense, and then trust their insights.”

Ensure that your recruitment team partners with your organization’s DEIB team to develop new hiring frameworks that consider diverse perspectives and aim to remove as much bias as possible from each stage. This will help safeguard against processes that sound great in theory but promote bias in practice. Having the right people in the room matters as you optimize the candidate experience.

4. Invest in employer branding so the right candidates can find you.

A strong employer brand can attract job seekers who are more likely to align with your company’s culture, reducing the time it takes to identify the right candidates. If your employer branding is weak or negative, the best talent might not bother applying for your open roles. 

One way to take control of your company’s narrative is to create and maintain a company page on Indeed, to showcase its work culture and values. 

“Employer brand is so important, and I don’t think companies index enough on it. The strength of the employer brand will reflect in the quality of candidates you attract,” Hardeman says.

5. Measure success and quantify impact.

After your organization implements changes to its hiring process, Hardeman recommends using candidate satisfaction scores to measure success. “Getting that information straight from the candidate is always going to be the best signal for me,” she says. “You can decide the best way to do that, whether it’s with a survey or with direct outreach.”

Also, by asking candidates for feedback throughout the interview process, you can get real-time input on what’s working and what’s not. Some companies use automated software to send an email to candidates after each interview, asking them to rate their experience and provide anonymous feedback. Other useful metrics might include job offer acceptance rates and the time it takes to fill a position. A better hiring process benefits candidates and everyone. Companies can build stronger connections with potential hires and improve their recruitment outcomes. Meanwhile, candidates can get the thoughtful and human-centered experience they deserve.