Josh Tolan
Your company’s reputation and success are undeniably impacted by the candidate experience. The candidate experience is the quality of the interaction and encounters that a candidate goes through during the recruitment process from the job description and employer branding through accepting an offer and entering into onboarding.
There are many touchpoints in the hiring process to make an impression on candidates. It goes without saying, that ensuring candidate expectations are met is crucial regardless of how far talent advances in your hiring process.
In Season 1 of the Speed to Hire Show, we discussed different ways that hiring teams are separating their candidate experience from competitors and setting candidates up for success. Here’s a look at how top companies stand out by creating a positive candidate experience:
Create a Stand-Out Candidate Experience
Long gone are the days when hiring teams focus only on the job requirements and the company’s needs. Today, hiring teams recognize and put greater emphasis on candidate expectations.
With the competition for top talent higher than ever, many hiring teams aim to differentiate themselves through a positive candidate experience. This trend can be seen in the implementation of more dynamic and comprehensive recruitment processes and putting a greater emphasis on employer branding.
By being open and honest about the job role and company in job postings, on your careers site, and through social channels, you create rapport with potential candidates before they enter your talent pool. This transparency helps to establish realistic expectations from both sides, ultimately leading to a successful hiring process.
▶️ Stay competitive in a talent-driven market to attract top talent
▶️ Leverage community spaces to attract dedicated candidates
Setting Candidates Up for Success with Preparation
Interviews can be a nerve-wracking experience for candidates. Hiring teams can ease stress in the hiring process by providing candidates with playbooks for their recruitment and hiring journey.
Establish expectations right away so you can be sure that both you and the candidate are on the same page entering the hiring process. Show if they were to join your organization, you are committed to ensuring their success by keeping them informed of what to expect and how best to prepare for each step.
Creating a guide that provides tips on preparing for interviews, including the format, and possible questions can help candidates gain confidence and feel more prepared.
▶️ Preparing candidates to excel in the job interview
▶️ The advantages of creating a candidate playbook
Reducing Risk with Proactive Support
Candidates are likely to have questions and concerns when making a career shift. Hiring teams can manage the candidate’s experience by providing talent with transparent details, digital resources, and proactive support throughout the entire recruitment process.
This includes being available to answer questions, keeping them informed, and being transparent throughout the entire recruitment life cycle. Proactive recruiting sometimes means looking for the best alignment with a candidate’s skills and experience and providing feedback to help guide their career path or improve their interview skills.
Ultimately, proactive support builds trust with candidates and can reduce the risk of miscommunication and confusion leading to negative candidate and, potentially, employee experiences.
▶️ Similarities between coaching and recruiting
▶️ Make information accessible to candidates to streamline hiring
Quick Tips for Improving Your Candidate Experience
Improving the candidate experience depends on understanding your candidate’s needs and expectations. Here are a few fool-proof ways to improve your candidate experience:
- Simplify your job application process
- Update your job descriptions and make them more compelling and inclusive
- Keep communication lines open and transparent
- Offer personalized recruitment experiences
- Provide feedback through timely follow-ups
Investing in a positive candidate experience empowers your team to secure the most talented and engaged candidates. A positive candidate experience can encourage referrals and ultimately contribute to a more productive, loyal employee base, increasing long-term hiring success.
▶️ Candidates deserve to know why they are being passed on
▶️ Nurturing engagement long after candidates are hired
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Video Transcript
Candidate experience is more than just getting back to candidates quickly and providing them with feedback in the hiring process. While these are great things to do, here are three things you can do right now to help your candidate experience stand out.
Number one – give candidates the information they want or need as early as possible in the hiring process. The more transparent you can be about the company or the job, the better, the earlier that you can create alignment and set expectations for the candidate the more success you’ll see later on in the hiring process.
Number two – set candidates up for success in the hiring process. If a candidate were to join your company as an employee, I’d hope that you were doing everything you can possibly do to set them up for success. And the hiring process should really be no different. Help them understand what to expect and how to prepare.
Number three – de-risk decision-making for the candidate. So the hiring process is stressful for candidates, not just because they want to impress you as a potential employer, but also if you do extend them an offer, they have to make a decision about whether or not they want to take that leap with you. And just because they have to take a leap doesn’t mean that has to be a leap of faith. So get in front of candidates’ biggest questions or concerns and provide them with as many resources as you possibly can to help them be more comfortable and confident in their decision.
I’m including some clips from Season 1 of The Speed to Hire Show with experts talking about these very things so that you can get the tactics and strategies that you need to start making your candidate experience stand out today.
Enjoy.
In case you missed it, The Speed to Hire Show Season 1 Episodes:
▶️ Streamline Hiring with a Lean Team featuring Jennifer Howell
▶️ Hire for In-Demand Roles with Accuracy and Efficiency featuring Rita Kelly
▶️ Modernizing Hiring Processes in the Public Sector featuring Kristi Wong
▶️ Proactive Hiring Tips to Grow Your Team featuring Janae Daniels
▶️ Lean Into Your Unique Employer Brand for Faster Hiring featuring Eric Conway
▶️ Optimize High-Volume Hiring with a Structured Interview Process featuring Erica Mendelson
▶️ Build Relationships with Candidates for Better Hiring Outcomes featuring Josh Rock
▶️ Empower Everyone in the Process with Playbooks featuring Stephani Studebaker
▶️ Screen for High-Potential and Transferable Skills to Widen Your Talent Pool featuring Lori DePace
▶️ Grease the Recruiting Machine to Facilitate a Smooth Hiring Process featuring JD Conway
▶️ Create a People-First Hiring Process to Optimize Hiring Outcomes featuring Samanth McCaul
▶️ Bring Harmony to a Distributed Talent Acquisition Team featuring Nicole Le Maire
▶️Build a Strong Platform for Internal Alignment to Identify High-Quality Hires featuring Alex Maas
