The candidate experience of your hiring process is more important than ever. Expectations are higher than ever before, which means you’ve further to fall if you get it wrong. Studies have time and again shown that the distance between what companies believe their candidate experience to be versus what the candidates actually think of it is significant.
Our latest ebook goes into detail about these statistics, as well as how you can fix this at multiple points throughout the process. Here is a small taster of just some advice shared.
1. Bottlenecks: Find them and get rid of them
55% of candidates will give up on a position if they don’t hear back from the company after two weeks of applying. Your time wasting will make the company look disorganised, show a disregard for the candidate and also look downright rude.
Figure out the bottlenecks in your process and address them. Perhaps it’s the candidate screening which is taking too long, or maybe it’s the hiring managers – once you figure out where days are turning into weeks, you can fix it. Bear in mind that it’s estimated that the best talent on the market is gone after just 10 days, and you’ll have a strong case for pushing for less time wasting.
2. Be clear about the process and manage expectations
Ever applied for a job and then wondered what’s next? Ideally the answer should be no, but chances are, we all have experienced this. It’s a confusing, unclear and altogether bad impression to give an applicant if they don’t know what’s going to happen next. When will they be contacted? When can they expect a phone interview? Will you ever hear from them again?!
This is unfortunately another area where the data shows us that how employers think they are performing differs from reality. Only 47% of candidates feel that employers set clear expectations at the beginning of the hiring process, while 78% of employers think they are managing expectations well. Oh dear!
Know your process and communicate it clearly.
3. Ask for feedback and give feedback
We’ve already seen several examples in this chapter of the disconnect between how companies think they are doing and what the candidate’s experience really is. You simply can’t know what the true candidate experience is if you don’t ask candidates for feedback!
Understanding what your candidates want, expect, and ultimately received is essential. Get feedback from candidates who have gone through different parts of the process. We’d recommend a poll or survey rather than asking them directly, as it will encourage more honest feedback. You can also get this unbiased feedback from online sources such as Glassdoor. However chances are that by simply asking about their experience, you will be improving it. You will be demonstrating that you care about the candidate, so we recommend doing both.
Equally, it is crucial that you are also giving your candidates proper feedback as well. The further a candidate gets in the process, the more they will expect some personalised feedback, even if they’ve been unsuccessful. Take the time to give this, even if it’s just a few pointers – this small input will make them feel it has, at the very least, been a worthwhile learning experience.
Find this useful? This is a small excerpt from our latest ebook which focuses on why candidate experience is just so crucial, and explores a variety of tips and processes you can start to use today to meaningfully, and positively impact it. Download it for free here.
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