How To Create A Positive Candidate Experience

Communicate With the Job Candidate Regularly

One of the keys to creating a positive candidate experience is to communicate with the job candidate on a regular basis. Job candidates want to communicate with the company regularly throughout the hiring process. It is also important to set realistic expectations on how the company will communicate with the job candidate and how often the company will communicate with them.

Additionally, one should set expectations on how much time the hiring process will take and what the hiring process will be exactly. One should follow through and make it on time to meetings or calls. The company’s HR management should make it a priority to communicate with job candidates regularly. Transparency regarding the job candidate’s progress is also critical.

Ensure That the Job Candidate Feels Valued

One thing to keep in mind is that interviewing someone for a job opening is often a two-way street. The job candidate is also interviewing the recruiter to see if they would be a good fit at the company. However, the process goes deeper than that, since there are many platforms where a job candidate can express their opinions about the company. One should ensure that the job candidate feels like they are valued, supported and heard when they walk away from the interview. If the job candidate gets a positive first impression of the company, that positive impression will remain with them.

Display the Company’s Values

Job candidates routinely examine a company’s values when they submit a job application to them. It is critical that the job candidate feels that they agree with the company’s values during the recruiting process. However, the company also has to do a good job of displaying its values during this process, as well. For example, if trust is one of the company’s core values, then the company should communicate with job candidates in an honest and straightforward manner. Demonstrating these values helps communicate that the company truly promotes its core values.

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Treat the Job Candidate Like an Employee

There are quite a few benefits to treating a job candidate like an employee. It is typical to give employees suggestions for improvement and feedback on a regular basis. One can simply do the same thing when they are interviewing a job candidate. The suggestions and feedback one provides can give the job candidate valuable insight into what it is like to work for the company and knowledge that the job candidate can use when they interview for other jobs in the future. Even if the company doesn’t hire them, this knowledge and insight can still prove to be useful.

Use Recruiting Technologies

As in so many areas, technology can play a big part in creating a positive candidate experience. One can use recruiting technologies in order to automate notifications to inform job candidates if they have gotten on the shortlist for the next step in the hiring process. These recruiting technologies send out automatic notifications at regular intervals. Of course, these automatic notifications could be telling job candidates that they didn’t prove to be a good fit for the position. One should send personal notes to job candidates who contact them via social media or email, too.

Make the Interactions Personalized

Any interaction with a potential job candidate provides one with an opportunity to make a lasting impression. Of course, this impression can be positive or negative. One can provide personalized attention to any conversations and messages between them and potential job candidates.

This makes it more likely that one will leave a positive impression on these candidates. Recruiting teams should take special care to ensure their interactions with job candidates are personalized. If they do this, they can make the job candidates into advocates for the company, even if they are not hired for the job in question.

Respect the Job Candidates’ Time

One should also be respectful of the job candidates’ time. Job seekers regularly complain that employers do not respect the time that they put into applying for the job and employers do not inform them that the position was filled. Additionally, job seekers often add that employers do not respond to follow-up messages at all. All this can create a negative job candidate experience. In order to create a positive candidate experience, respect the time job candidates put into applying and at least inform job candidates of their status in the hiring process.

This is something companies should do even if they do not have an HR department. One can help establish a habit of open communication with job seekers this way. Doing so also helps build goodwill between the company and job seekers. If one wants to create a positive candidate experience, one has to respect the time the job candidate puts into the application process and reciprocate by spending sufficient time communicating with the candidate.

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