What is candidate experience?
Candidate experience is the end-to-end experience that you set up for potential new employees for your organization. Or: what does the ideal candidate experience look like throughout the entire application process? From the first moment interest is piqued to the first hundred days on the job.
Candidate experience in recruitment
The candidate experience starts with the image the target audience has of your organization. Finding a suitable candidate has long since stopped consisting of simply posting a job vacancy. The roles are increasingly reversed, with recruiters approaching people themselves. In both cases it is important to optimize the candidate experience – also called the candidate experience journey. That way you convince the candidate that your organization is the best choice.
With an optimal candidate experience journey, you convince the candidate that your organization is the best choice.
The candidate journey touchpoints
The recruitment process consists of six candidate journey touchpoints – also called the candidate journey funnel. During the different phases of the application process, the candidate repeatedly gains new impressions:
Awareness
The candidate comes into contact with your organization through various channels, such as via a job vacancy website or via social media. You can create awareness yourself by having an attractive website or direct e-mail communication with potential candidates. The first point of contact is crucial here.
Consideration
An important phase: is the candidate interested in the job opening and your organization? In this phase the applicant searches for reviews about your company.
Interest
The applicant gathers information through various channels. That way the candidate forms a first judgment about you. You don't just want to paint a picture, the picture must also align with reality. Applicants find information about the organization's culture on the 'About us' page on your website or via external channels, such as Instagram and/or LinkedIn.To apply
The candidate wants to apply. In this phase the application process has two crucial elements: the duration and the complexity of the process. If the process takes too long or is too complex, there is a good chance that the candidate will drop out or apply elsewhere.
Selection
This is the stage of the job interviews and any assessments. Again, duration and complexity play a role. You want to prevent a talent from dropping out during the selection process at all times.Accept
You make the most suitable candidate an offer and listen carefully to his or her response to it. If you reach agreement together on this, then – even before the start of employment – the onboarding .
Candidate relationship management
The candidate experience journey does not stop at the sixth touchpoint, but continues into candidate relationship management. It is not only important to build a relationship with current applicants. You should also keep past candidates and potential applicants close by. They may well fit a vacant position at another time. CRM systems help you with this.
Benefits of a CRM system
Using a CRM system gives you the ability to:
● To continuously expand your talent circle with new people
● To make the hiring process more personal
● To maintain and strengthen relationships with current, potential and former candidates
● To improve internal collaboration
● To shorten the lead time of the recruitment process
Application communication
Responding too late or never responding to a job applicant is fatal to your reputation and therefore to your candidate experience. Timely communication is without doubt the common thread throughout the candidate journey. It may seem child's play, but it isn't.
Candidates, after all, expect even faster communication because of all the technological tools we have at our disposal. But don't be mistaken: communicating quickly is not the same as making a quick decision. Essentially, it's about informing the applicant in a timely manner about the progress of the process.
Even if a candidate is not suitable for a role, you want to communicate this in a timely and transparent way. This is a very important step to take your candidate experience to the next level. A personalized message therefore works best.
In short: do you want to create a good candidate experience? Then look at your organization as part of society, in which you clearly define how you present yourself.
