From sourcing to onboarding, creating a winning relationship with your candidates can be a challenge for even the most experienced recruiters. Your level of engagement could be what makes or breaks a candidate’s experience and their opinion of a business. Cleaning up your recruiting process will serve well for the company’s future, but it requires some effort from recruiters to learn where they can step up their processes. In this article, we will cover the most common candidate experience mistakes made that may be hindering your ability to hire and how you can turn them around to foster better relationships and hiring efficiency!
A Lack of Transparency
According to both employers and job seekers, the number one problem in the hiring process is ensuring clarity and transparency during the process. Deciding on a good fit is a two-way street. As much as you want the best fit candidate, you also want candidates who are confident that your company is the best fit for them. If you put forward unrealistic expectations, you will end up with dissatisfied employees anyway, a recipe for disaster. Avoid being vague and encourage investigative questions about the company culture. Be sure to give detailed and honest answers as best you can.
Ghosting the Candidate
Speaking of transparency: 75% of candidates never hear back from a company after submitting their application.
Today, automated emails and workflows make it easy to communicate without much effort – submission confirmations. Whichever responses you determine as appropriate, make sure your communication isn’t wasting candidates’ time by providing a prompt response regardless of the answer.
A Long Application
Another way you can respect your candidate's time is to keep the application process short and simple. Longer doesn't always mean better when it comes to your application process. Applications don’t need to be the place to learn everything you can about the candidate, use it to get their resume Getting to know the candidate better on a personal level will come at later stages of the interviewing process.
Not Showing Off Your Current Culture
A first interview is a chance to impress your candidates with the culture and energy you've fostered. Make sure the candidate is comfortable, and the team is enthusiastic about interviewing them. Let them meet some potential coworkers. Whether they end up getting the position or not, this is the chance to make a lifelong fan of your brand.
Keep Things Clear
The most important part of any positive candidate experience is clarity. Ensuring full understanding and setting expectations is beneficial for both the employer and candidates, making a better experience for all. Your candidates will always know what to expect and what is expected of them, and you will have less headaches dealing with the confusion that comes from a lack of clarity!
Streamline Your Processes
Always tell candidates what to expect next, and keep them informed. Send reminder emails, thank you emails, and use a structured interview process. This will help you make decisions quickly and allows you to only have the interviews you need for more efficient hires.
Get Feedback from Candidates
If you’re wondering where your candidate experience is lacking, the best way to find out is to ask the candidates themselves. Be sure to keep it simple and ask them about their overall experience such as what was helpful, did our team do a good job of interviewing you, or would you apply again if another job came up. By getting this direct feedback, you’ll be able to gain an understanding of what you’re doing well and what could use some work.
Be sure to send this to candidates who are no longer in the running for the position so you can be sure to get honest answers. Just wait long enough to help prevent getting feedback based on spite or disappointment. Typically, we recommend around 30 days after a candidate exits your process.
Provide Personalized Touches
Building strong relationships depends upon your ability to make things personal. Send personal emails when you can, and be sure candidates are taken care of during the entire process. Doing so will not only keep candidates engaged all the way through hire but will help even those candidates you don’t select retain a positive feeling and image of your company.
Whatever comes to mind when thinking of providing a great candidate experience, your plans can be made into reality with the help of recruiting software specialists. Whether it’s technology or support you need, if you are looking for speed and quality when it comes to your choice of staffing software, enlist the help of JobDiva. JobDiva provides an innovative staffing platform to give you the tools needed to promote a successful candidate experience. Their staffing software suite includes a best-in-class application tracking system, a texting platform, and an automated, algorithmic resume matching software, along with many other solutions. Take your recruiting process to the next level by implementing technology that ups your candidate engagement and organization all while receiving wraparound support and training from JobDiva staff to set you up for success.