what is the candidate experience?

The candidate experience is defined as the feelings and perceptions an applicant has as they move through the recruitment process, from attraction to onboarding. When employers provide a positive candidate experience, it can turn an applicant into a new hire and a new hire into a loyal employee.

The candidate experience includes several stages.

attraction stage: This is the stage where you use marketing tactics to gain the attention of potential candidates. It’s crucial to develop job advertisements and social media posts that are accurate, engaging and tailored to pique the interest of your target candidate.
application process: The application starts when a candidate decides to apply to one of your open vacancies. It’s important to keep this process as short and concise as possible and to only request the information you need to make informed hiring decisions.
candidate selection: This can be one of the most difficult, yet important, aspects of the hiring process. On the one hand, you want to create effective strategies for determining which candidates are the best for your company. On the other hand, you need to ensure you’re still providing a positive and engaging process for the candidates. This step can encompass activities such as screening, skills assessments and interviews.
onboarding: During this stage, the candidates transition into new hires. This is the time to give your new employees a warm welcome and help them get familiarised with the company policies and job at hand.

why is candidate experience important?

While there’s some dispute over whether the current candidate-driven market is returning to an employer-driven one, the growing skills gap still makes acquiring and retaining top talent a priority for most employers.

To be successful and attract the highest-quality candidates available, your company must now impress its candidates at every step of the candidate experience.

When companies fall short of the mark, they may gain a reputation as unattractive employers. Since virtually every applicant has access to social media and online review platforms, companies that neglect the candidate experience are likely to hear about it in a very public manner. Just one bad review can significantly impede your recruitment efforts.

If the candidate turns into an employee, a negative employee experience can result in higher turnover rates and increased recruitment costs and impact the overall success of your company. On the other hand, companies that focus on building a positive employee experience, can boost motivation in the workplace, increase productivity rates and achieve higher customer satisfaction.

candidate experience by the numbers

Do you need more evidence that the candidate experience is more important today than ever before? Here are some candidate experience statistics to convince you.

82% of candidates research a company before completing the application process
35% of UK job seekers use job boards to find job opportunities while 32% use social media
60% of job seekers never complete the application process, especially if it’s long and cumbersome
34% of applicants didn’t get a response within 60 days, and only 7% said they were notified they didn’t get the job
78% of employers believe they’re doing a good job communicating with candidates, compared to just 47% of job seekers
83% of job seekers state that employers can improve the candidate experience by providing clear timelines regarding the recruitment process

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