“At the end of the day, people wont remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel”
MAYA ANGELOU
Candidate Experience refers to the feelings or set of emotions that a candidate experiences at each stage of the candidate journey. It begins from the moment they become aware of your company’s existence and continues until the point of hiring.
In other words, it is the sum total of what a candidate experiences while going through your application process on your website or on social media where your jobs are posted, the interview, selection and the onboarding process.
Candidate Experience really affects how candidates see the organization they applied to, either positively or negatively. As per a LinkedIn Survey 83% of talent say a negative interview experience can change their mind about a role or company they once liked while 87% of Talent say a positive interview experience can change their mind about a role or company they once doubted. Therefore, designing a recruitment strategy requires prioritizing Candidate Experience as it forms the backbone of your entire recruitment effort.
If not executed effectively, it may cause irreparable damage to your organization’s reputation as an employer. Candidates judge your company’s employee-friendliness based on their candidate journey experience.
What is Candidate Journey?
The candidate journey refers to the multiple stages that a candidate goes through during the process of being selected . These stages have several touch points that provide us with an opportunity to create a positive experience for the candidates through a carefully constructed Candidate Journey framework.
A well-designed Candidate Journey Framework needs to be centered around the candidates. The entire process, including its stages, touchpoints, and interactions, should prioritize the needs, experiences, and satisfaction of the candidates.
We will address all stages of the Candidate’s Journey and connect them with their corresponding touchpoints.
Six Stages of Candidate Journey and their respective Touch points
Awareness Stage : First Impression
At this stage a candidate becomes aware of your company’s existence for the very first time. This is usually through a job posting, word of mouth, or advertisements.
All your Employer Branding efforts should be directed towards this stage to generate buzz about your company.
Interest Stage : Attraction Point
Awareness leads candidates to visit the LinkedIn profiles of your company’s employees, your company profile on social media, and your company website.
At this stage, utilize all your Recruitment Marketing efforts to attract candidates towards your employer brand.
Consideration Stage : Intensive Research
Once candidates are interested in your company, they begin considering applying seriously. This prompts them to research your company on online review websites like Glassdoor, Ambitionbox, and Indeed.
Constant efforts need to be made to ensure that your Reputation as an Employer on these platforms stays positive.
Application Stage : Action Point
At this point, candidates enter your company’s recruitment funnel. To ensure that candidates have a smooth application experience, keep your application forms short and simple. Also, ensure that you have a career page enabled with an Employer Value proposition.
This is an important stage in the Candidate Journey. If done well, it can ensure a regular flow of candidates in your recruitment funnel.
There are multiple Recruitment Management System available in the market, such as RecruitCRM, peopleHum and many others, designed to enhance and automate the candidate application process.
Selection Stage : CV Screening, Interviews and Assessments
This stage is the most important in the candidate journey. Here, the candidates undergo a series of evaluation processes, including aptitude tests, technical interviews, and HR interviews. It is the time when both sides, the candidates and the company, assess and judge each other.
Recruiters and hiring managers need to ensure that they present a positive image of your company at the time of interview. They have to respect the candidate’s time and schedule the interviews according to the candidate’s availability.
Hiring Stage : Salary Negotiations, Offer Letters and Onboarding
This stage marks culmination of the Candidate Journey. The candidates who make this far already must have already formed an opinion about your company. To get this right, the negotiation skills of a recruiter comes into picture.
Without being too pushy, both parties reaching a mutually accepted agreement ensures that the candidate joins your company on the decided date.
Candidate Journey and Recruiters
Recruiters are the backbone of the Candidate Journey Framework. They are the most important cog in the wheel when it comes to providing an excellent Candidate Journey experience to candidates.
From the Awareness stage to the Onboarding stage, their active involvement in the Candidate Journey is essential. They must ensure that every candidate touch point in the Candidate Journey is leading towards providing positive experience to the candidates.
Some key considerations while designing the touch points
Job Descriptions and Advertisements
This is typically the potential candidates’ first point of contact with your organization. Therefore, ensure that the job descriptions are as interesting, attractive, and gender-neutral as possible. They should reflect your company’s brand and culture positively.
Career Page and LinkedIn Profile
This is where you can make the best use of all your Employer Branding and Recruitment Marketing efforts. The Career Page of your company should prominently display the work culture. You can include videos and photographs of fun activities, as well as growth stories and video testimonials of your employees.
Application Form
Ensure that the application form is not too lengthy or time-consuming. It should include only the necessary fields, along with an option to upload a CV. Keep it to a bare minimum, as candidates often find long forms tedious to fill out. Ideally, it should not exceed one page and should have pre-filled options rather than requiring manual data entry.
Candidate Communication Strategy
This touchpoint plays a crucial role in the Candidate Journey. There must be a precise communication flow between the Recruiters and the Candidates. At every stage in a candidate’s journey, they should receive regular status updates and feedback on the interviews. This creates a positive impression in the minds of candidates that their time and efforts are valued and respected.
Interview Scheduling
Respecting candidates’ time and effort during the application and interview process is of paramount importance. Try to avoid rescheduling interviews once you’ve given candidates a time slot. This is important because, in most cases, candidates are already employed and may need to take a day off to attend the interview. They may not appreciate if the interview gets rescheduled. In unavoidable circumstances, try to inform them earlier so that they can plan their day accordingly.
Online Review Websites
According to a survey, 86% of job seekers research company reviews and ratings to decide where to apply for a job. This data should encourage companies to work on their employer reputation on online review websites like Glassdoor and Ambition Box.
How to manage Candidate Rejection process?
Managing the candidate rejection process effectively is crucial for maintaining a positive brand image of your company. If not done well, candidates may take offense and write negative reviews about your interview process on Glassdoor and other review websites. Hence, to avoid this situation, recruiters need to ensure that rejected candidates are given feedback in a respectful manner.
