In today's business world, it's increasingly difficult to hide for those providing bad experiences. Experience sharing can not only impact your brand, but bad reviews in fact also kill businesses every single day.

On the other hand, if you are providing an excellent experience, the chances are high that others will hear about it and notice you in a crowded space.

Conclusion:

It makes more sense than ever to make every interaction with your business into a positive one.

The candidate experience is no exception here. In fact, it is one of the most important areas to meticulously monitor, measure and improve. It's where people come in close contact with you as a brand and get a personal, first-hand feel for how you really treat people.

A couple of years ago, most businesses didn't think much about how potential recruits were treated in the process. As the game changed, and companies now have to compete for true talent, the importance of treating candidates well throughout all contact points has intensified.

When you are looking to fill an open position, most likely there are more candidates involved than there are open positions. On average, there are 250 applications for every opening when it comes to corporate jobs. That means most candidates will leave empty-handed with a bruised self-confidence, a sense of frustration and a negative attitude towards your company.

This experience plays a vital part in future encounters with your company and is a leading indicator of employer brand perception.

Here are some numbers that should convince you to treat your candidates equally well as your customers:

Provided the candidate experience was negative:

• 72% share their experience online.
• 55% avoid companies after reading online reviews.

Source: Human Capital Institute

And furthermore:
Your acceptance rate can drop up to 38%

Dismissed candidates are 3.5 times less likely to reapply

11% of candidates will sever all business relations with you.

However, provided the candidate experience was positive:

• 95% of unsuccessful candidates would apply again.
• 97% of candidates would refer others to apply.‍
• 88% would increase their purchasing with the company.‍
• 55% would tell their social network about their experience.

Source: Kellyservices.com

As evident, candidate experience covers multiple areas in the total composition of your employer brand. Having an attractive employer brand is a very powerful tool that enables you to craft a compelling employee value proposition. And it can also be an aid in motivation and attract high performing employees. Ultimately, Deloitte even suggests that strong employee experience is one of the main drivers of strong customer experience.

So, how do you improve your candidate experience? Where to start?

The candidates impression is mainly based on your process and the communication throughout it.

"The best way to destroy a brand is applicant radio silence."

A good start is to apply for a job yourself and trying to look at the process from the candidates point of view.
Ask yourself constructive questions such as:
Is this process engaging and straightforward?
Can we reduce time to apply?
Is every step neccissary?
Is the process transparent in every step?
Is it easy to find answers to any questions?

And focus extra on the communication through the process. Few applicants likes waiting and even fewer likes to not hearing back at all. And if possible, consider how you can add a positive impression even for those that don't meet the criteria, or at least give them feedback on their resume.

This challenge becomes much harder as more people apply.

But fortunaley there is help avaliable.

The performance of AI-based systems is not at a level where they can effectively automate several stages in your recruitment process while ensuring every candidate is threated in a personal and respectful manner.
Learn more about avliable solutions in this blog post covering most there is to know about AI recruitment

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