Candidate experience has become a significant talking point among hiring professionals, and for a good reason. How a candidate feels during the recruitment process will directly inform their overall experience before and after being hired. Therefore, even candidates who do not get the offer should expect a positive experience that will inform how they talk about your company in the future. In addition, the candidate experience will affect your quality of hires, so it’s crucial that you optimize it. Here are a few ways to improve your candidate experience to attract top talent.
Write Great Job Descriptions
The first step to attracting top talent is in creating a great job description. Long gone are the days where you can briefly catalog the job duties and expect someone to bite. Today, candidates are looking to understand why they want to apply right from the initial description. You have to showcase what makes your company unique, including your company culture and incentives. Here are more tips for writing great job descriptions.
Make the Application Easy
97% of Americans own a smartphone of some kind. The movement toward social and mobile recruiting is essential to reach your target candidates. But the number of people who abandon online applications is astounding. If the mobile application experience isn’t quick and easy, you’ll lose out on all candidates, including the most desirable and qualified job seekers for your open position.
Respect Candidates’ Time
It’s also imperative that your company respect your candidates’ time. Shortening the time to hire, which we will discuss later, isn’t just about getting your open positions filled as quickly as possible. Your candidates are also eagerly awaiting updates from various potential opportunities, so respecting their time is as critical as filling your job.
Communicate Clearly and Often
To that end, transparent and regular communication is vital to the process. Many companies are embracing text messaging or even chatbots to help facilitate the conversation. In addition, letting people know about the next steps or even a rejection will provide a much stronger candidate experience. And remember, rejected candidates may be suitable for something else in the future, so you want to maintain a positive relationship.
Provide Feedback
Too often, companies will leave their unhired candidates wondering what exactly happened. Even the typical “we’ve decided to go with another candidate” doesn’t answer all of the questions. But since a qualified candidate who didn’t make the cut this time could be your perfect fit in the future, providing quality feedback can change everything. Even if you don’t go back to that candidate, their experience will directly impact how they discuss your company with other potential job seekers.
Improve Your Time to Hire
We all know time is money. In the case of your open positions, the longer the role goes unfilled, the more money you leave on the table. Or the more your current employees have to pick up the slack, which will also affect your bottom line. If you could have a 50% faster time to hire, isn’t that worth it? You don’t have to reinvent the wheel to shorten your time to hire. Tools such as talent intelligence can get you where you want to be.
Conclusion: Talent Intelligence Improves the Candidate Experience
The number one takeaway for businesses today is how the candidate experience of the application and hiring process affects your employer brand. By improving their experience, you can improve your company’s reputation and the quality of hires. Making small changes, such as expediting the time to hire, can help your company attract and retain top talent and improve your hiring goals long-term.
Enhancing your hiring experience with Talent Intelligence can give you an edge in the current job market. Source and recruit top talent based on your established criteria and develop a hiring process that improves your employer brand, reduces time to hire, and retains top talent.
Learn more about Talent Intelligence and Censia by contacting our team today.
