Candidate Experience – 5 Golden Rules to Help You Get Better

We all have been through a recruiting process, and not every recruitment process left the same impression on us, right?

During the recruitment process, applicants get a first overview of a firm's insights, and they can decide whether they like it or not. As if it was a date, first impressions matter here. It is crucial for a candidate to have a good experience during this process; otherwise, the candidates' perception of the whole firm will be negative. Positive candidate experience involves attracting, sourcing, recruiting, and interviewing, positively - regardless of the decision we end up making.

Why does the candidate experience matter?

By developing a better candidate experience, you can reduce hiring and marketing costs in the future. Good hiring practices are always communicated via word of mouth, and this can bring new high-caliber applicants and customers to a firm. Candidate experience also impacts the company’s employer brand, which affects many aspects of the business.

According to the employer brand research 2019 conducted by Randstad, 78% of candidates consider the overall candidate experience an indicator of how a company values its employees. A stunning 55% of job seekers abandon their application processes after reading negative reviews.

But what can you do to improve the candidate experience? We have compiled a list of our 5 golden rules:

1. Accept that being remote is the standard

In our article - Working remotely: how productive is it? we mentioned that 72% of all students who took part in the College Pulse survey, named working remotely as their preferred working condition.

Younger generations believe that to be more productive, they need to have the option to work from home. Companies need to accept that the future will look different in terms of the way they work and conduct job interviews.

Video meeting tools such as eyeson allow the interviewer to have online meetings from wherever suits the candidate better, helping companies meet the expectations of future employees.

2. Value the time of your candidate

Oftentimes a company's' internal processes and tasks are prioritized over recruitment, which negatively affects the candidate experience. You should define the exact steps and set the necessary time frames that your recruiting process requires.

A simple way of showing a candidate that you value their time is by moving forward quickly. Make sure you send your reply within three days. After all, the candidate has taken the time to apply, complete the recruitment task, and take part in a job interview. By notifying them quickly, you will not only push the whole process forward but show the candidates that their time is valuable to the company.

80% of applicants claim they wouldn’t be eager to apply for other relevant job openings at a company that fails to notify them of their application status.

3. Introduce the team

The skills and experience of the candidate are essential. However, another aspect that matters is their fit within an organization.

Offer candidates a chance to meet the team before deciding to hire. That way, you can observe whether the person matches the company’s work culture. Furthermore, getting to know how their day-to-day will be and meeting their future teammates provides insight and affirms expectations and challenges. Introducing candidates to the team adds a personal touch to the recruitment process compared to just a standard conversation. It also has a positive impact that aids in communication later on, if the newly hired employee works remotely.

4. Improve your online job ads to improve candidate experience

According to Allegis Group Findings from its Global Benchmark Study - 80% of hiring managers claim that job expectations of the new hire are always aligned with the original job description. Only 36% of candidates agree with this statement.

A well-written job ad is essential for the candidate experience. Job ads that don’t offer transparency may lead to lower interest or misunderstandings during the actual interview. Explaining all the responsibilities and expectations is something that should generally be prioritized during the interview.

Focus on making the job ad user-friendly and separate different job offer sections. Don't forget to add the "apply" button and involve your graphic designer to improve the user experience. A great looking job ad will make the application process more appealing and dynamic.

5. Bet on recruitment professionals

If your internal HR team is too busy or you don’t have a dedicated HR person on board. You can also opt to delegate recruitment duties to a recruitment agency. Firms specialized in recruiting will accelerate the process and positively influence the candidate experience.

Candidates who apply for technical positions in software development, for example, prefer to talk with a recruitment specialist. They will be much better at communicating the complex terminology. In ITCraftship’s new ebook “ Software Developers Insights’ on Hiring” some developers mentioned that they would not take part in any recruitment if there weren’t a qualified tech recruiter on the other side. So make sure you speak the applicant's language or hire someone who does!

Our 5 golden rules are a great start for any organization seeking to recruit qualified candidates. Since the current job market is competitive and candidate-driven, organizations must improve the candidate experience. They will have to do so throughout the whole recruitment process to find the best possible applicants.