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Why candidate experience is important

You’re recruiting and focused on job specs—what you need from candidates. Have you thought of what candidates need from you?

Candidate experience is key when recruiting. It might seem strange, since you’re only going to select one candidate for the position. Why be concerned about the others?

Your recruitment process is an important indicator of how your business is seen and talked about. Candidates notice how they’re treated throughout the recruitment process and see their experience as an indicator of how well your business values its people. It’s also an indicator of how closely you live up to your values and shows you walk the talk.

Candidate experience means the candidate who wins the position will start life in your organisation believing in you. Those who don’t win will have a positive impression and be happy to be approached for future recruitment.

In short, a great recruitment experience can be a great public relations exercise for your company.

Eight ways to secure a good candidate experience

  1. Recruitment process

Make sure your recruitment processes are clear and fair. This includes providing time frames and sticking to them. It also includes providing feedback during the recruitment process. And it involves communicating to all unsuccessful candidates why they didn’t secure the position.

Closing the loop in a personal way is valuable. Stats vary, but most indicate that a large percentage of candidates wouldn’t apply for another job if they fail to hear back about a position they applied for.

  1. Use a recruiter

Using a recruiter helps you stay on course, especially when life gets busy in the office. Great recruiters will also advise you on recruitment based on their extensive expertise and deep industry knowledge. Recruiters are also expert at covering the essential steps required for successful recruitment, including legal ones.

  1. What candidates look at

As an employer, you need to understand that candidates will look at (and analyse) your brand and decide if your company is worth working for based on what they find. This includes the visual appearance of and content on your website, how you run your social media channels (active engagement and quality of content), and how imagery reflects your ‘personality’.

  1. What candidates want

Remember that not all candidates are just looking for a paycheck; they’re looking for an opportunity to work for a company with credible and admirable values and a defined mission. If these—and the ‘human side’ of your business—aren’t reflected in your online presence, you’d best make some adjustments to make sure they are. 

  1. Benefits of working for you

Ensure your recruitment documentation lists the benefits of working for your organisation, including flexible work arrangements (a big attraction), work perks, rewards, team structure, support for employees (including your Employee Assistance Program), professional development and growth opportunities, and how you celebrate successes. This will build confidence among candidates that recruitment is more than just a process for your organisation.

  1. Avoid corporate jargon

Candidates don’t want to be confused or baffled by the recruitment process. They want matters explained in plain language.

  1. Be strategic with interview questions

Being strategic with your choice of interview questions and asking smart questions to showcase you’re not just keen on hard skills but on soft skills, cultural fit and personality (candidates are human after all) is key. Again, this will build candidate confidence.

  1. Communicate well

Communicating well, and regularly, throughout recruitment says a great deal about how much you value people. Leaving candidates in the dark never establishes confidence.

Other articles of interest to employers

Onboarding newstarters during COVID-19

Benefits of hiring mature age workers

How to onboard a new team member

Wonder what makes a great CEO?

Do you have a bad business handshake?

 

 

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