Absolutely! Your candidate experience involves every interaction a job seeker has with your company throughout the recruiting process. This includes your career site, job postings, application process, interview process, communication with a recruiter, and job offer, or rejection letter. This process is a reflection of your company and creates the first impression prospective employees have of your organization. You need to be selective about who you hire to do your recruiting and the candidate experience you provide. The recruiter, whether internal or external, represents your company needs to act as an extension of your team. The recruiter must treat candidates with professionalism, honesty, and responsiveness to encourage them to want to work for you. You must also treat your recruiting partner as part of your team so they can provide this service. Otherwise, a lot of time and energy is wasted with no desirable results.
Benefits of a Positive Candidate Experience
A positive candidate experience increases your talent pool. Providing what applicants want and need during the recruiting process motivates them to accept a job offer. Having a positive candidate experience also raises awareness of your brand. When job seekers share their experiences online, they generate positive feelings about your organization and encourage other applicants to work for you. To provide a positive candidate experience, you must have a plan of action to provide information to the candidates, keep them informed and engaged and reduce the time between 1st contact and the offer. This increases your odds of having in-demand professionals work for you by representing your company in the best light and making the candidate feel important. Having a poor candidate experience during the recruiting process is among the top reasons for declining an offer.
Enhancing the Candidate Experience
To enhance the candidate experience, the recruiter needs to share your employee value proposition with candidates and set realistic expectations for the role and work environment. This means partnering with your recruiter to give intimate details about a role and not just a job description to read to prospective candidates. Job seekers and passive candidates need to know these details to entice them to your company, make an informed decision, and have a smooth transition for candidates who become new hires. As the employer, you need to make hiring decisions as quickly as possible, ensuring the process is smooth, without unnecessary duplication of calls or meetings. This means no more saying, “They are great, let’s see a few more candidates before making a final decision.” It’s vital to provide the recruiter ongoing information to keep candidates informed about where they are in the process and what they can anticipate next.
Find the Right Recruiting Partner
To provide a positive candidate experience, partner with the right recruiting firm. Get to know exactly who you’re working with, how they treat candidates and understand their recruiting process. Look for a firm that shares the same values, goals, and genuine interest in you and the candidates’ success. Get in touch with Next Level Professional to understand our process let us help create a positive outcome for you and your team. (262) 293-4288 or paul.ladson@nlstaff.com.