The candidate experience is about the interactions a job seeker has with the company during the hiring process. A candidate’s experience indicates how a person perceives a company’s application process. Broadly speaking, a candidate’s experience can strengthen or weaken an applicant’s opinion of the company for reasons that have little to do with the actual open position. Also read more about the candidate journey

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What is the difference between candidate experience and candidate engagement?

The difference between candidate experience and candidate engagement, is that candidate engagement is about the interactions you have with a candidate. See also our article on candidate engagement. This is largely in your hands

Candidate experience is about how candidates feel about those interactions and the impression they have about your brand

Candidate experience increasingly important

For HR professionals, the candidate experience is an increasingly important part of recruitment tasks. In this regard, technology is indispensable. The challenge is creating a good candidate experience for hundreds or thousands of applicants a year with whom you, as an HR manager, may never have personal contact

The application procedure

In any application process, at a minimum, the job requirements should be clear, the procedure short, and the next steps thoroughly explained to a candidate. Personal interviews should weigh a candidate’s skills against the needs of the open position. Candidates who are not offered a job should be rejected in a way that makes them feel good about the company. All of these factors can improve the candidate experience

An unnecessarily long or complicated (online) application process, can negatively affect a candidate’s experience. As can disorganized job interviews, not respecting the applicant’s time or incorrectly describing the skills required

Why the candidate experience is so important

A good or bad candidate experience can also impact customer relationships and future recruiting efforts

• • Many job applicants are also customers who value a company’s brand and products.  When they apply for a job and feel their application falls into a black hole, brand loyalty suffers.

• • Employers may get applicants who are not suitable for the current job opening, but may be excellent candidates for subsequent job openings. Companies want to add these candidates to their talent pipeline or talent pool and alert them to future opportunities. Even if candidates do not get a job on their first try, a good experience will hopefully encourage the applicant to try again.

• • An applicant who has a negative experience with a potential employer may tell others and that can hurt recruitment. One in three job seekers share their negative experience. So a bad experience can not only cause the candidate to reject the offer, but also cause them to post a review online, damaging the brand’s reputation. While a good candidate experience helps develop a strong employer brand, negative experiences make it difficult to attract and retain top talent.

• • A good candidate experience not only makes the hiring process worthwhile for the job seeker. It improves your employer brand. Simply put, how candidates “feel” about the recruitment process influences their decision whether or not to accept the job offer. This means that a good candidate experience is directly related to a strong employer brand.

How do you create a great candidate experience?

Below are some tips for creating a great candidate experience

• • Develop a career page that is easy to find and understand

• • The careers page provides insight into the company’s culture. This makes it a great way to attract potential candidates. Posting employee stories and listing clear application instructions help build a good candidate experience. In addition, making the page easily accessible can also contribute to a smooth application experience.

• • Want to do something unique? Work with ENBOQ to translate your company story into a fun online adventure, encouraging candidates to look for what makes you unique.

• • Introduce a fast and mobile-friendly application process. Since most candidates like to view jobs on the go, the application process should also be mobile-friendly. This shows that you are also thinking about the candidate’s time and convenience.

• • Draft clear job descriptions. Schedule short interviews with current team members to gain more insight into what it feels like to work in the position or team on a daily basis. Use these insights to tailor the job description to current skills, team culture and experience needs. This will make the job description more compelling and help a potential candidate actually envision the position. Avoid using jargon and catch-all terms that do not give a clear picture of the position. In addition, include the job title and requirements so that you attract the right candidates.

• • Post the jobs not only on your own career page but also on various social media channels. For example, also on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter so that candidates can browse and apply.

• • Respond to follow-ups and research emails

• • Although the number of applications you receive may be overwhelming, don’t skip thanking or responding to emails from candidates. They too have spent time on their applications! After receiving the application, send a confirmation email or text message tailored to the position applied for. This will definitely improve the candidate’s experience. By responding in an organized and personal manner, you are offering the applicant a good experience.

In short; winning more top talent

We are in a candidate-driven market, which means job seekers have many choices when it comes to where they want to work. A good candidate experience can help attract more job seekers to you and persuade the best candidate to accept your offer

• • Make it easy for candidates to get to know your company

• • Set your career website to work

• • Use social media to spotlight company

• • Write clear and enticing job descriptions; gain insights from current employees

• • Be clear about who you are looking for

• • Gain insights from current employees

ENBOQ has several onboarding, reboarding in conjunction with onboarding programs to make onboarding new employees more efficient and fun. This through E-learning and Gamification solutions. Have you become curious? Contact us without obligation