The definitive guide to candidate experience

Think about the number of people who will apply for your company’s jobs this year. Now think about the number of people you will reject.

For many employers, the number of applicants they reject annually is well into the hundreds or thousands. The point is, no matter how many jobs your company fills in a given year, you are going to reject many, many more applicants than you will hire.

So what does this mean to your business and your bottom line? You need to deliver the best possible candidate experience – including timely and respectful rejections – to every single applicant. It also means you need to invest in the right mix of talent acquisition professionals, processes and technologies.

The business impact of your candidate experience

Every candidate you hire or turn away has the power to critique their experience on social media and share them with their professional networks and friends. But even rejected applicants will speak well of your company if their candidate experiences are positive.

This has been demonstrated conclusively by the Talent Board’s 2017 North American Candidate Experience research data:

• Up to 43% of global job applicants who had a negative overall candidate experience say they will take their relationships to other companies - including future job applications, referrals to their friends and colleagues, and even their purchases.
• Conversely, 74% who had positive candidate experiences say they will definitely increase their relationships as a result. This figure includes applicants who have been rejected.

Put simply, the quality of your company’s candidate experience does not only affect your talent pipeline. It also profoundly impacts your business, your revenues and your brand reputation.

Adopt the high-tech and high-touch approach

When employers think about improving their candidate experience, two things frequently come to mind: technology and automation. Both certainly enable a better candidate experience, but they are not goals in and of themselves. The goal most employers should focus on is improving the overall quality of their candidate experience.

For candidates, a high-quality experience is a high-touch experience – one that offers them frequent interaction and communication with recruiters, hiring managers and HR personnel. This is not surprising when you think about how highly personal the job-seeking experience is for applicants, and it is borne out by extensive research from the Talent Board, a nonprofit organization focused on the elevation and promotion of a quality candidate experience. According to its 2017 North American Candidate Experience research data, employers who deliver award-winning experiences take the following steps:

• Solicit feedback from and listen to candidates far more effectively than employers who deliver poor candidate experiences
• Do a better job of setting expectations with candidates about the recruiting process and how it will unfold
• Work hard to be perceived as having a fair recruitment and selection process (i.e., candidates feel they have been given a real chance to explain why they deserve to be considered for jobs)

A high-touch experience does not rule out automation technology. In fact, the right technology is increasingly essential to an effective high-touch experience, not only for your applicants but for your recruiters and hiring managers as well.

By taking a high-tech and high-touch approach, you will be focusing on the quality of your candidate experience first and foremost. And by focusing on quality rather than business efficiency, you will be able to determine which aspects of the recruiting process you truly need to automate. Indeed, this approach can be applied to every phase of your candidate experience.

Improving the 4 phases of the candidate experience

All four phases of your candidate experience are critical because they each represent an opportunity to strengthen your candidate relationships. Not handled appropriately, however, they also each run the risk of damaging these relationships. Everything your candidates experience during each phase directly impacts your business and your reputation. Therefore, treating jobseekers with the same care and respect you give customers is a wise practice.

Let us take a closer look at each of the four phases of the candidate experience, using data from Talent Board’s 2017 North American Candidate Experience research.

Phase 1: Pre-application

Before individuals even apply for jobs, they form their first impressions of you. Many employers have traditionally overlooked the importance of this phase. They simply posted job ads and waited for resumes to start rolling in. Today, we know that sound talent attraction and sourcing requires far more strategy and proactive effort. Recruiters must be working diligently during this early phase to better understand your specific talent audiences and build relationships with them. If you excel in this phase of the candidate experience, you will have a distinct competitive advantage.

Technology impacts

• Year after year, career sites have remained the most valuable channel for candidates when researching an employer, and nearly one-quarter of all candidates used employer review sites (such as Glassdoor) in 2016. Employers have increased their investment in mobile-enabled technologies (up 10% from last year to 79%) to attract talent. If you are not taking advantage of these trends, you are losing talent to companies that do.
• Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) is a top-five recruiting technology investment for employers.
• Creating and distributing engaging recruitment marketing content via online technologies (social media sites, video outlets and other channels) brings attention to your company and makes candidates feel connected to you. Asked to identify the most valuable marketing content, 42% of candidates cited company values, a trend that has held steady over the past three years. Employee testimonials are another example of highly valuable content you should be leveraging.

Stakeholder impacts

The stakeholders who can make the greatest contributions to this initial phase of your candidate experience are recruiters and others who play official roles in your talent function (talent attraction and HR professionals, for example). These individuals must work together to focus on key activities, including:

• Candidate Influencing & Attraction: This begins with providing the right information to potential candidates through messaging, segmentation and communication. Stakeholders must agree on which specific talent audiences to pursue (creating candidate personas is a big help) and understand how to correctly use job advertising and search engine optimization for effective online talent attraction.
• Nurturing: Stakeholders must then engage with potential candidates through online and offline channels (email campaigns, mailings, newsletters, etc.). Your messages need to be specific to your audience’s interests and needs.
• Conversion: Converting potential candidates into viable candidates at the right time is vital. Remember that once you have engaged candidates, they are more likely to lose interest the longer the conversion process takes.
• Measurement: Finally, stakeholders need to measure and evaluate all of these efforts on an ongoing basis to determine what is working and what needs to be adjusted.

What award winners are doing

Each year Talent Board gives candidate experience awards (known as the CandE Awards) to those employers that have the highest positive candidate rating in the survey research. Employers that win CandE Awards offer an exceptional experience in the pre-application phase, and you would be wise to model key aspects of their approach:

• Early engagement: Invest in a variety of tools to provide candidates with relevant content during the pre-application phase. For instance, consider supplementing your written job descriptions with video versions.
• Meet candidates where they are: Invest in the career pages, review sites and social media online communities used by your ideal candidates. Knowing where your target talent audiences congregate is a must for effective relationship building and recruiting.
• Stay fresh: Keep your career site stocked with fresh, relevant content beyond a list of open jobs – information about your company’s culture, employees’ daily work experiences, and mission & values, for example.
• Employee testimonials: Candidates want to know what your employees have to say just as customers want to hear other customers’ opinions.

Phase 2: Application

This is when candidates are converted into actual job applicants. Sadly, far too many people still find the online application process cumbersome and time-consuming. Equally troubling, they continue to receive sparse (if any) communication about their status after applying to a job, and a mere 20% of applicants recall employers asking them for feedback (up 5% from last year).

Technology impacts

A variety of sources have estimated the candidate dropout rate to be 60% or greater in this phase – a problem largely associated with technology roadblocks.

• A few of the biggest technology roadblocks are: application forms that do not work properly or must be filled manually; a poor interface between job boards, recruitment sites and employers’ internal systems; and automated response systems that either work poorly or are poorly utilized.
• More employers have implemented applicant tracking systems (ATS), candidate relationship management systems (CRM), and other talent technologies. Among those that do not, 31% are considering implementing a CRM next year, 21% are considering a mobile-enabled system, and nearly 40% a predictive analytics system – all of which can streamline the application process for candidates and employers alike.
• 79% of employers now enable applications via mobile devices and 21% were considering a mobile-enabled system in 2016/2017. However, only 12% of candidates actually applied to jobs through a mobile device in 2016.

Stakeholder impacts

• One of the greatest positive impacts your recruiters and hiring managers can make to your application process is to communicate personally and more frequently with applicants. The automated “thank you” sent by employers simply is not sufficient. Almost half of 2016’s job applicants were never told the status of their applications or why they were asked gender, race and ethnicity questions. Shockingly, 47% of candidates never received any communication two months after applying.
• The HR and talent functions must enable people to know the status of their applications at all times. For more than one-third of today’s applicants, this remains a frustration. This is an easily solvable problem that can mean a lot to your employer brand.
• Another way to boost your employer brand is to give applicants a variety of opportunities to showcase their skills, knowledge, and experience during your application process. Talent Board’s research shows that the more opportunities applicants have, the greater their overall satisfaction level.

What award winners are doing

Applicants at CandE Award-winning organizations are twice as likely to reapply for other jobs at these companies. Here are a few of the strategies they leverage to keep applicants coming back:

• Invest in the right technology to drive a smooth and efficient application process. 97% of CandE Awards participants have an ATS in place; 81% have assessments and testing systems; 76% have talent network/talent community systems; and 69% have CRMs.
• Make application forms user-friendly. Allow people to save applications as drafts that can be completed later; advise people how long an application should take to complete before they even begin; incorporate a progress indicator that shows them how much of their application form has been completed or is yet to be completed.
• Increase communication and feedback. Nearly 30% of applicants who rated their candidate experience 5 out of 5 stars said employers asked for some form of feedback during the application process; 88% who rated their experience 1 star were asked for no feedback at all.

Phase 3: Screening & interviewing

This is the phase in which employers evaluate whether a candidate is worth further consideration - and vice versa. Never forget that candidates (particularly, top talent) are evaluating you as well during this phase. How you treat them during screening and interviewing largely determines whether they will remain in your talent pipeline and apply to future jobs.

Technology impacts

Many employers rely heavily on technology to manage and streamline screening and interviewing. While this is understandable, candidates want employers to add some personalization and human interaction to this phase as well.

• Video interviewing was a top-five recruiting technology investment for 2016/2017. 67% of employers implemented a video interviewing platform in 2016 – down from 70% in 2015. However, only 16% of candidates actually took part in a video interview, as 60% of employers continue to use the telephone to conduct interviews.
• 83% of employers leverage an ATS, 56% use assessment/testing systems, and 42% use reference checking systems during screening.
• Employers are using two types of screening assessments more and more: cultural fit assessments are up 22% from a year ago and job simulations are up by 50%. Job simulations employ realistic scenario-based tests to determine whether candidates have the specific skills and experience to do a job.

Stakeholder impacts

One way to improve this critical phase of your candidate experience is to have all of your stakeholders assume greater personal accountability. When you look at the reasons the relationships between employers and potential employees break down so often in this phase, it is clear that all stakeholders bear some of the responsibility:

• In 2016, 47% of candidates were still waiting to hear back from employers more than two months after applying to jobs, and only 28% received an email or phone call notifying them they were not being considered for a job.
• Often, employers fail to communicate with candidates during screening. As a result, some 71% of companies do not survey unqualified candidates and only 4% ask for any feedback at all. This phase of the process offers you a unique opportunity to build trust with candidates – and to provide and receive honest feedback.
• Currently, many hiring managers do not provide much feedback (if any). Recruiters are not required to follow-up with candidates. And nobody is mandated to contact candidates after they have applied. You might consider putting policies in place to address these shortcomings.

What award winners are doing

Recent CandE Award winners are making screening and interviewing more engaging in a number of ways that you should think about emulating:

• Provide clear, consistent and continuous communication. This includes setting clear expectations with candidates before screening and interviewing. Clarify why candidates will be asked questions about gender, race and ethnicity (which will also help protect you legally). The more you empower and inform candidates priorto screening and interviews, the more positive their experience will be.
• Use assessment and testing tools. Winning organizations have a higher use of all types of assessments and are likelier to conduct internal analysis. 85% of CandE Award winners are using pre-employment assessment and selection tests, which is 13% higher than all other employers. And 78% are using assessments to improve new hire performance.
• Ask for and share feedback. 32% of candidates who rated their overall experience 5 out of 5 stars were asked by employers to provide general feedback as well as their impressions of the interview process; 87% of candidates who had a 1-star experience were not asked to provide any feedback.

Phase 4: Offer & onboarding

This is the final phase of your candidate experience – you have decided to hire a candidate – but the process is far from over. Your decision and offer letter are just the start of the negotiation process to bring the individual through the door. You need to continue delivering a positive experience to seal the deal and onboard each person with maximum efficiency. New hires who have a positive onboarding experience are more productive during their early weeks with you.

Technology impacts

Your talent management systems andtechnology can make this final phase a dream or a nightmare for new hires – and your staff. Systems and tools that are well- integrated should ensure new hires receive their offer letters promptly and obtain all necessary forms, paperwork and company information in a timely way. Poorly integrated systems can make a shambles of these important activities.

• Consider automating the forms-management component of your onboarding process. More and more candidates are telling employers they want an online onboarding process rather than filling out actual written paperwork. Onboarding systems are one of employers’ top-five recruiting technology investment going forward.
• Implement an automated feedback process asking new hires to rate their candidate experience. For the most accurate responses, do not allow too much time to lapse before asking for feedback. That way, the experience will still be fresh in your new hires’ minds.

Stakeholder impacts

What do candidates want from your stakeholders at this phase? Not surprisingly, they desire many of the same things they did in earlier phases: personal responsiveness from your recruiters and hiring managers, along with clear and steady communication.

• Consider extending a verbal offer prior to the written offer. This strengthens the personal bond new hires feel with your recruiting staff, hiring managers and even your company.
• Send offer letters promptly. Nearly one-third of candidates who had an overall poor experience received their offer letters four or more weeks after their final interviews.
• Conduct credit reports, security verifications and drug tests soon after an offer has been accepted. When new hires’ start dates are unnecessarily delayed by these activities, it can sour their entire experience.

What award winners are doing

The thing that separates employers with award-winning candidate experiences from the rest of the pack at this phase is how much more proactive they are in interacting and communicating with candidates. To follow their lead:

• Set clear expectations regarding the onboarding process and timeline. Tell candidates when to expect offer letters and other paperwork, when background checks and other verifications will be finished, when they can expect to meet with their boss, etc. Then live up to those targets.
• Make certain that your internal team members “own” each task in this phase. Personal accountability improves outcomes.
• Do not miss the opportunity to ask new hires for feedback about their experiences. This is a hallmark of a great candidate experience, and one that will set you apart. Sadly, more than 40% of candidates in 2016 were not invited to provide feedback on their experiences or the hiring process.

Become a high-tech and high-touch champion

Every phase of your candidate experience is an opportunity to strengthen your business and your talent relationships. Unfortunately, far too many companies continue to deliver a subpar candidate experience and it is costing them talent, reputation and revenues. While technology and automation are part of the solution, you must choose them wisely. That’s what the high-tech and high-touch approach is all about.

By focusing on the overall quality of your candidate experience, you will strengthen every phase for your applicants, as well as your recruiters and hiring managers. Use these insights to help your organization become a high-tech and high-touch champion and build an award-winning strategy.