As recruiters and employers we evaluate candidates based on their resume, interview performance, technical, analytical and behavioural skills and any additional factors specific to your organization. But have you ever thought about how candidates are also evaluating and forming opinions about you and your company…
Did you know that 72% of candidates who have a negative experience will tell others about it and 81% of candidates will share a positive experience with their direct network. This means that it is more important than ever to focus on improving and implementing a positive candidate experience.
In a time when there is an influx in job seekers and job availability, companies need to pay attention to candidate experience and its focus on employer branding and recruiting strategies to ultimately have a high-performing business.
If the candidate experience is lacking, it gives potential hires a glimpse into what it would be like to work at the company. This is why it is so important to evaluate your hiring processes and candidate experience based on communication and engagement, authenticity of your recruiting practices, the application process as a whole and your feedback strategies.
By assessing and improving these practices, this will help your company improve performance, promote the employer brand and help uncover what you could be doing wrong within your recruitment processes.
- Excel in Communication and Engagement
63% of candidates say that most employers do not communicate adequately and this is a direct result of poor engagement. So how can we improve in this area?
First, set clear expectations for you and your candidate right from the get-go. Be very direct and transparent about your recruiting processes and what you expect from the candidate.
Second, be organized and attentive. Show your candidate that you are an expert. This means making sure that you provide the candidate with all of the information they need to be successful. Provide all the necessary details about interviews, companies and job descriptions. Be sure to create and send calendar invites for all scheduled phone interviews, video interviews or in-person interviews.
Third, give immediate feedback at each step of the hiring process. Whether it is positive or negative, provide feedback after the candidate applies, after the initial phone screen and after they’ve gone into an interview. This will show them that you care and that you want to help and see them succeed. Candidates put a lot of time and effort into creating resumes, cover letters and preparing for interviews so not hearing any feedback can be extremely defeating.
- Make It Personal
More than half of job seekers say employers never keep them informed about their application status and 53% of candidates report not receiving a response from employers until 3 months after applying. Why is this? This is because processes have become so impersonal that a candidate just becomes a number buried in an ATS.
With technology advancing daily, recruiting and hiring processes have become more automated than ever before. Candidates are put through automated evaluations such as online assessments and one-way video interviews where they are then put into an applicant tracking system which then uses artificial intelligence to find profiles that match the job. Meaning that there is a complete lack of humanity when undergoing the initial hiring steps. How can we change this?
First, create personalized messages to your candidates. While most recruiting practices have integrated automated systems to improve time and costs, it is still important to use the tools provided such as personalized and authentic messages to show your candidate that you are with them through each step.
Second, create a relationship with your candidate and stay connected. Let them know that you are there to help them. Whether or not your candidate lands the job, it is still important that you continue to maintain a relationship with them because you never know when their perfect job will become available. Connect with them on Linkedin, make sure they are signed up for any job alerts and/or email newsletters, ultimately keep them in your network.
- Shorten and Simplify the Application Process
60% of job seekers have quit an application in the middle due to its length or complexity. Nowadays, application processes can be extremely time consuming. With the endless amount of online assessments, candidates are particular about which jobs they apply for. This could mean that you are losing out on valuable, high-performing candidates.
One of the best ways to make your company stand out to top candidates is implementing a short and simple application process. Make sure applications are extremely user friendly and precise. This will also help you find more qualified candidates, by making any pre-assessments quick and seamless.
Implement automated processes. By automating certain hiring steps such as reference checking and pre-screening, this can streamline the hiring process significantly. Implementing these tools not only takes stress away from you as the recruiter, but also makes the process efficient and effective for the candidate, so that they are able to find their dream job as soon as possible.
Make the process fun and engaging for the candidate. When job seekers spend hours applying for multiple jobs, the process can become very repetitive. So, stand out. Create interesting and captivating question sets that not only make the candidate enjoy filling out the application but also makes them tap into their creative and unconventional side.
- Ask For Feedback
75% of candidates are never or rarely asked for feedback after applying to a job.
A bad candidate experience can make a candidate feel undervalued or not valued at all. This is why asking for feedback from the initial application to hire is crucial.
Implementing a feedback strategy throughout the entire hiring process will make the candidates’ opinions and feelings feel valued, as well as allow your company to gain insight into your recruiting practices. Start generating feedback immediately by implementing a feedback tool that initiates post-application surveys, post-interview surveys, recruiter feedback surveys, NPS surveys etc.. all to improve the candidates overall experience.
Not only will implementing feedback improve your net promoter score but will ultimately increase candidates referrals and brand awareness.
Conclusion
By taking a step back, looking at your candidate experience and seeing where you can implement changes, is the first step in improving the overall performance of your company. Start by implementing minor changes such as editing email templates and candidate questionnaires. Then, look at the bigger picture and determine how your team as a whole can build a common practice for everyone to follow in efforts of improving candidate experience.
Make your candidate experience like nonother to ensure that you will find, land and retain top quality candidates for years to come.
A great candidate experience means a great employer brand. Learn more about candidate experience here.
Want to learn more about how you can utilize VITAY to improve candidate experience? Chat with one of our Account Managers today!
