What Is Candidate Experience in Recruitment?
- Your company website
- Your job postings
- The application process
- Any communication from your applicant tracking system
- Your interview process
- Communication with HR professionals, team members, and/or leadership
- Notifications about the candidate’s application status
- Candidate rejection letter or job offer
- The onboarding process
Why Is Candidate Experience Important?
How to Improve Candidate Experience: 5 Best Practices
Candidate Experience Best Practice #1: Perfect Your Job Descriptions & Landing Page
Candidate Experience Best Practice #2: Build a Strong Candidate Communication Strategy
Efficiency. Streamline the process as much as possible, so that the candidate doesn’t have to do much work to move easily through the application and selection process. Speed, communication, and trust are key.
Speed. Respond to applicants quickly, especially if their inquiries or information requests are time-sensitive.
Communication. Keep the flow open, and communicate with the candidate about each next step of the process. Naturally, this is necessary to keep the candidate informed, and show that your company is organized and professional. However, receiving direct, prompt, personalized communication, rather than being treated like a number in a line, will make the candidate experience qualitatively better.
Don’t ghost! Even if you hate crushing dreams — or are simply too busy to spend much thought on it either way — be sure your company sees things through with each candidate, including letting them know when they’re no longer in the running for their desired position. If appropriate, encourage them to apply again for other, future openings.
Candidate Experience Best Practice #3: Create a Better Interview Experience
Candidate Experience Best Practice #4: Engage New Hires
- Make sure new hires are welcomed warmly into the company culture, and into their new departments or teams
- Streamline the onboarding process
- Make sure that the new hire is given the opportunity to absorb a lot of new information in a clear and organized way