Candidate experience is a theme that has gained popularity within companies during the last couple of years. Organizations and recruiters have started to realize that the recruiting process itself matters. I scratched the surface of this topic in my last blog post, but let us now go into more detail on how to improve candidate experience.

What is candidate experience?

Candidate experience covers a wide range of topics; for this reason, it is difficult to give an exact definition. In short, it is how an applicant feels about your application process. This includes how they view practicalities, is the communication well functioning and so on. Candidate experience includes all the touchpoints and interactions you have with candidates.

Candidate experience is important as it directly affects your applicants and your company’s image. In research by Talent Board, 33% of applicants with a negative candidate experience shared it on social media. Not good for the public image, right?

Then again, the results are different with most of the applicants who had a positive candidate experience. They would refer someone to apply, apply themselves again or engage with your brand in the future.

How to improve candidate experience?

One of the best practices of candidate experience is communication. The Talent Board research reveals that communication is the driver for a good candidate experience. For example, consider sending an application confirmation email. It is extremely simple and saves the candidate from worrying about their application. Also, be consistent, and remember to share news and updates about the application process with your candidates. A standardized communication system can help you with this.

If you take one thing out of this post, it is communication. It’s so important that it deserves a double bold.

Another thing to implement is feedback. Forbes lists it as one of the ingredients for a winning candidate experience. You should constantly develop your recruiting process, and honest feedback is one of the best ways to improve.

Inc mentions candidate preparation in their article. According to it, giving applicants information about your company makes them feel more confident. This is the first time I hear about this, and it certainly is an interesting thought.

Lastly, as mentioned in the previous blog, step into the applicants’ shoes. Imagine what it is like to be an applicant in your company. Have an existing employee play a candidate’s role when you create the application process. This can give you insights on how to improve the process for the best candidate experience possible.

Final word

Candidate experience is one of the most important aspects you can have in recruitment. By putting the candidate in the focus of your recruiting process, you can ensure a quality experience. Check out our partners portal to see how AIESEC can help you in this.

This effort goes a long way since if you accept the candidate, you have a motivated new employee. Furthermore, if you reject them, they still feel good about the process itself. Everybody wins, but it is your job to make it happen.