Creating Meaningful and Positive Candidate Experiences

“If you treat candidates poorly during the recruiting process, they’re going to tell their friends. You could get away with that in 2009, but you can’t get away with it in 2019,” according to Brian Kropp, chief of human resources research for Gartner.

Kropp is right. Candidate expectations are not what they were 10 years ago. If the experience you provide doesn’t meet their expectations, your employer brand — and your ability to hire the employees you need — will suffer. To successfully recruit and retain top talent, recruiters and HR professionals must incorporate AI-driven sourcing in their overall strategy to deliver positive candidate experiences.

Focus on these three ways in which you can keep the candidate experience positive:

Distribute accurate and detailed job postings. Even if your careers website contains on-the-job videos and other content about what it’s like to work for your organization, you still need to craft your job postings with care. If candidates enter the application process based on a job posting from another site, that posting is their first introduction to your organization. Make sure it’s accurate, offers insight and piques candidate interest.

Candidates want a respectful application experience. A well-crafted, informative job posting conveys that you respect their time and want to provide valuable information that will assist them in their search. Aim to treat your job postings with the same care you expect from the candidates who are crafting and submitting their resumes for your review.

As a bonus, with accurate and detailed job postings, some applicant tracking systems (ATS) —  those powered by AI-driven sourcing — can successfully take on the talent search for you.

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Deliver clear and consistent communication. Candidate perceptions of your organization begin when they review the job posting and is subsequently informed by follow-up interactions. Every communication you send — from the notification that you’ve received their application to the email inviting them to a phone screen, to the interview request and beyond — makes an impression on the candidate.

The way you communicate with candidates matters. These interactions make up a candidate’s perception of your company as well as the position for which they’re applying. Using automated emails and other tools in your ATS helps maintain consistent and clear messaging, but bringing a personalized and human element is valuable throughout the entire process.

Confirm that your technology is improving and not derailing the exchanges you have with candidates.

  • Are messages timely and thoughtful?
  • Is communication personalized, or does it feel standardized?
  • Do candidates have an option of contacting someone directly?

From the first interaction to the last, keep candidate communication clear and consistent to reduce any uncertainties they may have along the way.

Conduct mutually-beneficial interviews. AI-driven sourcing tools also play an essential part in creating mutually beneficial interviews. While robots aren’t conducting interviews, the data that’s been collected provides hiring managers with critical information before candidate conversations. Having candidate data allows hiring managers to review the candidate’s resume, online presence, work history, experience and background before the interview.

Hiring managers should also have access to all the communications each candidate receives. When they meet with a candidate, they can review what’s been shared and provide updates as needed. Rather than asking the candidate what they’ve heard about the process or whom they’ve spoken to from the organization, the hiring manager can access that information in the ATS. Equipping managers with the information they need can vastly improve the quality of the interview. This level of preparation makes it clear that the company has already invested in them as a candidate, which reflects positively on the company culture overall.

Strategic and smart use of AI-driven sourcing enables your organization to stand out with candidates. Distributing accurate job postings, communicating clearly and consistently throughout the process, as well as conducting mutually-beneficial interviews, will position you as an employer of choice. Rather than sharing horror stories about their job search experience, ensure that candidates can’t wait to tell their friends about the positive experience your organization delivers.

 

Simon Oldham

Simon Oldham
Simon Oldham is the president at QJumpers, a recruitment platform.

Simon Oldham

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