How to create a great Candidate Experience?

 15th Feb 2022

In the past 2 years, there has been a power shift in the recruitment industry. Candidates have more choice than ever before, with job opportunities at an all-time high and worrying talent shortages in several areas. They have the luxury of being pickier.

One of the most important factors in attracting talent is the Candidate experience. Candidate experience is defined as "how candidates feel about your organisation after they go through the hiring process,". And these candidate ‘feelings, whether positive or negative, have an impact on whether they apply to your organisation or accept your job offer.

Stats by Job Description Library stats:

• A favourable candidate experience increases an applicant's likelihood of accepting a job offer by 38%.
• 8 out of 10 candidates are deterred from applying for a job with a company if they, if they failed to receive feedback on the previous application.
• More than half of job searchers will not apply to that organisation after reading negative employer reviews.

To recruit great people and expand your brand, you'll need the appropriate plan, which should start with your ability to provide a personalised and engaging candidate experience.

There are various ways to accomplish this, and we've outlined 5 concrete measures for improving candidate experience:

1. Creating Meaningful Communication: Too frequently, communication during the recruitment process is generic and fails to reflect the true essence of a company. Bring in your marketing team to ensure that your brand's tone of voice is consistent throughout all candidate communications, from job postings to rejection letters.

2. Structure & Streamline your interview process: Make a plan for your interview procedure. Use an organised interview process, with each interview serving a defined function and each candidate going through the same set of questions. This allows you to make quick decisions, avoid overlapping interview questions, and conduct only as many interviews as you require.

3. Communicate clearly and frequently: Inadequate communication is one of the most common causes of a bad candidate experience. Keep applicants updated on their progress as quickly as possible, even if it hasn’t reached a conclusion. Take the time to explain why a candidate's application was unsuccessful to those who were rejected.

4. Give feedback and ask for criticism: LinkedIn research shows that 94% of candidates want to receive feedback.  It can assist people in learning from their failures and comprehending why they were unable to advance farther. Rather than leaving them with the impression that the decision was arbitrary or unfair.

Furthermore, soliciting feedback during the hiring process might reveal a real, personal aspect to you as an employer. This will build a strong and relatable bond with your candidate, which will only enhance their experience, whether or not they get the job.

5. Get creative to show candidates your company culture: In the last 3 months we have seen a 28% increase in the number of job seekers dropping out of recruitment processes. Remote and hybrid hiring and working offers an opportunity to get creative. Start by gathering all the materials you have about your company culture, including any videos, podcasts, or culture decks that you’ve already created.  Once you have the material, think about the best way to share it with candidates. This could involve sharing a presentation and photos during your video call as well as attaching pictures and including links in your emails.

6. Keep in touch with promising candidates for any future roles: While the hiring process may be over, the few promising prospects who failed at the final interview should not be forgotten. Keep in touch with these candidates and let them know about any future positions you're looking to fill. Not only will this boost your chances of finding a good fit for future openings, but it will also give candidates a great experience.

If you want more advice on how to enhance the candidate experience, contact David Terry, Director at Pivotal London on 07554010308 or via email: david@pivotallondon.co.uk