Candidate Experience: What is and how to create a great one (2024 Editions)

As the job market becomes more competitive in 2024, the emphasis on differentiating businesses from one another has increased. This has led to a heightened focus on the two crucial words that can make a significant difference in attracting top talent: Candidate experience.

From previous articles, employer branding is considered as one of the key aspects a company needs to invest in. Think of candidate experience as the forefront of employer branding as a first impression from your company to a potential future employee. Based on our findings during the pandemic, individuals are experiencing a merging of their home and work lives within the same physical setting.

This has led to a shift in perspective, as people now view their work and personal lives as interconnected. As a result, employees are reassessing their definition of quality work and seeking purpose in their tasks.

How does the candidate’s experience relate to all of this?

The candidate experience is of utmost importance for first-time job seekers as it can greatly impact their decision to apply and accept a job offer from your company. Despite this, there are still some businesses that fail to recognize the significant impact that the candidate experience can have.

Having a positive candidate experience can benefit a business greatly, where the significance of the candidate experience in today’s world is also driven by revenue. Companies that do not prioritize providing a consistent experience for potential candidates as they do for their customers may be experiencing significant financial losses, potentially reaching millions.

To create a pleasant candidate experience, here are some tips and tricks in helping you construct effective strategies.

1. Do create a presence for your company in social media

In the early stages of job application, searching for a suitable company to work for is important for each candidate. Make your career page visible by making it easy for applicants to access it through your company website or through job posts on websites like us.

Build an online presence in social media. According to PSA, most of the current demographic of people in the workforce is the majority of people in their 20’s and 30’s. To lure them in to apply, post job advertisements, not job descriptions. Make sure that you tickle their fancy by interacting through social media channels. Have clear and concise instructions in your job descriptions and applications to make them relevant and easily understandable in comparison to others. This makes the application process look easy and inviting to individuals interested in applying for your company.

2. Be open to communicating more with your candidates

Candidates not only look into what’s the best fit for their skills and capabilities, but also which organizations have appropriate company cultures, great working environments, and even good reviews from ex-employees on rating websites like Glassdoor.

In line with this, you not only have to look good, but you have to sell the part, too. Feedback is big from the point of view of the candidate. Even just an automated message or email regarding the process of their application would ensure a good candidate experience. Regular status updates will keep them interested in your hiring process. Even if they do not seem to be a good fit for your company, still update them about the status of their application since proper closure is also part of fostering a good candidate experience.

3. Do make interviews a happy place

Job interviews are one aspect of the job application process that is nerve-wracking for applicants. Creating a good candidate experience is vital in this part of the hiring process. Interviews can be symbiotic where the candidate can get to know the company as the company gets to know the candidate as well.

If your organization is quite laid back or if your company culture prioritizes work-life balance, show them, not just tell them, with your body language and attitude. Keep the communication open! Just as candidate experience is at the forefront of your company’s employer branding, the interviewer, as the first person the candidate meets, is one, too.

4. Treat them well during onboarding, too

Onboarding is considered the point of transition from applicant to employee. Since they’re technically newbies in your workplace culture, treat them well and make them feel welcome. Deliver on all the promises your company made during the hiring process through onboarding strategies and welcoming gifts to keep the fire going in your new employee.

It can be a personalized planner or company swag. For example, Canva sends a welcome package for new employees containing work essentials, goodies, and tools that can help them be more efficient.

You can even include a sit-down lunch with the CEO! Figure out what can you do to make them feel appreciated. You can also think back to the time when you were onboarded as a new employee. Were there things you’d like to be changed or improved? How would you upgrade that for the newbies on the team?

5. Conduct a Post-interview process

How a company handles the aftermath of a job interview greatly impacts the candidate’s overall experience. In industries where candidates often communicate with each other, it is important for a company to leave a positive impression to encourage future recommendations and potential job applications. Regardless of whether a job offer is extended, it is essential for the company to offer prompt and transparent feedback to the candidate.

Candidates who were not accepted and had an unsatisfactory experience are also likely to share their negative views with others, resulting in adverse publicity that can hinder your ability to attract potential talent in the future.

Following these strategies can help your company receive benefits like successful recruitment and good reviews from candidates. You can view having a good candidate experience as a two-way street for your company and the applicant.

They get to experience a pleasant hiring process and you get to see them in their superior shape, making sure they’re the right fit for your company. Aside from that, you can also receive positive workplace culture, better company reputation, and higher retention rates. Not only are you up to date with the current trends of recruitment, but you also set yourself in the sights of top talents online.

But if you still struggling in creating best Candidate Experience, feel free to talk with our Employer Branding team. We can help you designing a best candidate experience with well proven strategy.

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