Five Steps to Improve Your Candidate Experience
We’re in the business of people. However, sometimes our processes get so automated that we forget that how people experience the recruitment process makes a huge impact on the employer’s reputation. In a 2013 candidate survey, Seven Step RPO found that 25% of candidates who applied for jobs never heard back from the employer, at all. Of the people who did hear back, 75% of them waited two or more days to receive a response. This has far-reaching effects. CareerBuilder reported in a 2012 survey that 42% of people who had a bad candidate experience said they would never reapply for a job at that company, 22% said they would tell others not to apply there, and nine percent said they would tell others not to buy products or services from that company.
This proves that candidate experience does matter. From the first time a candidate reads the job description, throughout the application process, and until the possible hire, communication with the candidate should be consistent and engaging. The communication a candidate receives confirming their application, to the eventual decision on whether they are being considered for the position or not, and on through interview feedback, hiring, and post-hire—each touch point is an opportunity to represent your brand in a favorable way. By creating a positive experience, you can motivate people to reapply for positions in the future and speak well of your company among their peers.
So what can you do to improve the experience?
Here are five key steps that can have a lasting impact:
- Integrate company branding in your communication process. Too often, automated confirmation emails appear generic and impersonal. This is an opportunity to enhance your brand perception and create a welcoming experience for the candidate. Brand these emails so that they appear to come specifically from your company, as well as include more information about your organization, links to blog posts, employee stories, and upcoming events. This is an opportunity to show that you care about the candidate and highlight your employee culture.
- Eliminate candidate dead-ends. After candidates hit “submit” on the application, many are never told what to expect next in the hiring process. Let applicants know that you respect their time by indicating what the next steps in the hiring process will be. Keep candidates engaged with your brand by providing a link to additional job openings that takes them back to the career site.
- Integrate social media. Candidates have questions, but often there is no indication of where they can turn to get answers. Clearly provide information about how to connect with a recruiter or the hiring team via your social media channels. Another way to do this is to develop a follow-up email to be sent a week after an application is submitted that provides the company’s social media sites and any additional videos or employee testimonials.
- Create opportunities for candidates to provide feedback. A quick candidate survey after an application has been submitted, and also presented at each stage of the hiring process opens up two-way communication between the candidate and the company. Companies can use this information to continually tweak their process to further enhance the candidate experience.
- Communicate regularly with your candidate pool. By segmenting candidates who have applied to your company, you can send targeted emails throughout the year that keeps your branding at the forefront and lets them know that you still value them as potential talent.
Improving the candidate experience is important to maintaining a positive reputation in the talent industry. CareerBuilder reported that 56% of candidates who felt they had a positive hiring process experience said they would seek employment with the company again in the future, 37% would tell others to apply there, and 23% would be more likely to purchase products or services from that company.
Taking the time to add a few simple tweaks to the application and hiring process can certainly have a significant impact.
About the author:
Erin Bazinet is a speaker, writer, and practitioner on social recruiting and talent community management. She serves as a social media manager at Seven Step RPO, a recruitment process outsourcing firm based in Boston. She has been at the forefront of creating and executing social media and digital recruitment strategies for Fortune 100 companies. She executes a variety of marketing platforms to engage potential and current candidates, drive traffic to company websites, and optimize the online candidate experience. Connect with her on Twitter (@ErinBaz), Facebook, Instagram, Google+, or by email (erin.bazinet@sevensteprpo.com).