Creating a Positive Candidate Experience

Attracting top talent requires employers to create an excellent candidate experience, especially when job seekers have numerous employers to choose from.

Once, I was chatting with a friend, lets call her Sue, was describing her experience with a large company:

" Within a three month period, I was interviewed three times. Two of which was with the same individual, all they mentioned to me is that they really liked me but did not have any openings at that time. As another month passed by, Sue was surprised to receive a phone call from the manager of the department that she applied to gave her a call and mentioned she was interested in bringing Sue in for an interview. When Sue mentioned she had been interviewed three times prior, the manager said "Oh, my bad, I must have called the wrong person."

Needless to say, my first reaction was, are you sure you want to work for that company?

Unfortunately, if employers appear to be disorganized, inconsistent with the level of customer service experience offered to candidates, it can be a reflection of how they manage their people.

On the flip side, I have a friend named "Bob" who recently started with a large company who was committed to providing excellent customer service to all of their stakeholders, including job seekers. Once an interview was set up for Bob, the recruiter sent him an email itinerary to include the following information:

"Date, time, location of the interview, who he will be interviewing, a contact in case something comes up or he would like to follow up after the interview, along with information on how to find the job description."

This is incredible and is not a very common practice. By doing this, the employer can help eliminate a lot of uncertainties that candidates might be worried about- e.g. "How many people will I be interviewing with?" "What is the duration of the interview so I can make the appropriate arrangements," "Are there any special instructions I should be aware of when locating this office?"

With all of those uncertainties addressed, it makes it easier for the candidate to establish rapport with the interviewers, focus on highlighting their experience/skills and how it aligns with the position.

As I wrap up this blog, I think it is important for employers to evaluate the following questions and where they can start to focus on to can create an excellent candidate experience:

1) Is providing an excellent customer service to candidates important to you? If so, what does this look like and what type of training needs to be put in place? After all, candidates value responsive and friendly employers.

2) Is it possible to send an automatic reply to the candidate once they have submitted an application to thank them for their interest and by giving them a rough timeline of when individuals will find out if they move on to the next stage of the application process?

3) Is it worth your time to put together an email itinerary to better prepare the candidate? E.g. Include the date, time, location including special instructions, style of interview questions, number of interviewers and potentially recommended interview dress code. Yes, this might require some extra leg work but it also provides you insight into a candidate's ability to take instruction.

4) After the final interview, does it make sense to provide the candidate with a rough timeline of when you plan on getting back to them about whether or not they are successful?

If you and the candidate have invested time into this process, the least that you can do is put a candidate at ease by informing them about whether or not they were successful and to thank them for their interest.

If the answer is yes, you are differentiating yourself as an employer who creates excellent candidate experience for job seekers and are one step closer to attracting top talent.

Looking for help on improving your candidate experience? Connect with me for a FREE consultation at hello@newwinsolutions.com.