Have you ever wondered why you keep using the same apps over its competitors? Between Amazon & Flipkart, Ola and Uber, and Swiggy & Zomato, people tend to use the same app over the other, creating stickiness and higher retention rates. Well, it is because of the seamless experience provided to the customer. Candidate experience is similar to these apps. If you are able to provide the best experience to a candidate, then the chances of them sticking with your company for longer periods of time increases. Which will have the most positive impact on your business. In this article we will be looking at what candidate experience is, why it is important and how you can improve it. So let’s get started.

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What is Candidate Experience?

Candidate experience refers to the overall impression and perception that a job seeker has of an employer’s recruitment process, from the initial job search to the final hiring decision. It includes all aspects of the recruitment process, such as the job posting, application process, communication with recruiters, interview experience, and feedback after the interview.

If you are able to provide a positive candidate experience, then it becomes easy to attract talented people to your organisation. When candidates get delighted, then take it to social media to share their experience, becoming a brand ambassador for your organisation. But if your company does not have a streamlined hiring process and applicants are having a negative experience, then chances are that your brand reputation is damaged in the market and it can deter great talent from applying to your company.

So, it is safe to say that if you are providing a positive experience to applicants chances of improving your hiring efficiency is higher. Saving you a lot of time and money.

Here is a video to expand your perspective on candidate experience: 

Why does candidate experience matter?

According to Michael Page report, only 38% of the employees stay in the same company for more than 2 years in India, which is the least when compared to other countries around the world. And more than 68% of the people interviewed responded that they are looking for a job change in the next six months. Employees around the world are re-evaluating their job roles and are prioritising their happiness, work-life balance and overall well-being. Besides all this, competition for good talent is higher than ever. Companies are planning various types of promotional activities in order to attract talent from other companies.

Remember when Ashneer Grover, founder and CEO of BharatPe made the announcement that they are giving BMW bikes to IT professionals as a joining bonus?

ashneer grover

This is the reality now. And I cannot emphasise enough about the importance of a good candidate experience. Remember that all good applicants have multiple offers in their hand and they will only go with that company which made them feel welcomed and gave them the best overall experience.

How to improve & provide good candidate experience?

Now that we have understood the importance of creating candidate experiences that attract talent, let’s look at ways to improve your candidate experience. I have listed down 5 effective ways to improve candidate experience, if you have anything to add, feel free to comment below.

5 Effective ways to improve candidate experience

1. Effective communication: You might have experienced it yourself or you might have seen people sharing their frustrations on social media on how HR’s ghost candidates post an interview. This talks a lot about their organisation. Having clear communication means that you let the candidate know exactly what to expect throughout their recruitment process. This includes details on the timeline of responses, the stages of the interview process, and any assessments or interviews that the candidate needs to complete. Just by providing this information, you will be able to stand out and make a lasting impression on the candidate.

2. Streamlined application process: In our previous article about attracting talent using non-monetary methods, we discussed how companies like Tesla have the simple application process for their job openings at their organisation. Companies tend to complicate this by having an application with too many processes and long application procedures. This is clearly a demotivator and can disappoint the candidates. Make sure that your application process is streamlined by minimising the number of steps required and by making it user friendly to complete it. It is also important to optimise the application page mobile friendly as most of the applicants are on their mobile phones.

3. Open feedback loops: It is important to keep the candidate updated once they start their application process and let them know where they stand in their recruitment process. The benefit of doing this is that it keeps them engaged and motivated. To make your job easier, there are multiple tools now available that send automated updates to candidates at each step of the process.

Personalised Onboarding experience

4. Personalised onboarding experience: As the saying goes, “First impression is the last impression”, companies only get one chance to make a good impression. Which is why you need to take advantage of the onboarding process. If you are able to provide a delightful onboarding experience to a new hire, it will have a positive impact on their perspective, reasons to stay for long term, and boosts their productivity. If you want to learn more about improving your onboarding process, check out our recent article about the 11 ways to improve candidate onboarding experience.

5. Being empathetic: Always think from the job applicants perspective. Everyone wants to feel valued and respected. So it is important to show these values throughout the recruitment process. Regardless of the candidate being hired or not, these qualities should be followed. You can do this by providing timely responses and by ensuring that the interview process is fair and respectful.

Here is a video of The Head of J&J (Formerly PepsiCo) explaining how to improve candidate experience using technology:

Who is a candidate experience manager?

Candidate experience manager is someone who is responsible for managing the entire operations throughout the hiring process, to prioritise a great candidate experience. Companies do not hire a candidate experience manager as they do not want to hire a full time employee to manage this. One of the major is that hiring numbers are volatile and depend on macroeconomic factors and business outlook. What you can do is hire third parties to manage the candidate experience for you. It will help you save the cost of hiring, improve candidate experience score and overall build a better reputation in the marketplace.

Conclusion

Providing a great candidate experience is beneficial to your business in many ways. You can attract great talent, improve employer brand and even increase customer satisfaction. By following the tips outlined in this article, you can improve your overall candidate experience at your organisation and create a positive brand reputation for your company.

If you need help improving your onboarding process or candidate experience, book a demo to see how our solutions can help.

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