How Do I Provide a Great Candidate Experience

You’re probably aware that candidates apply to many jobs, and almost every candidate speaks about their interview experience. An interview is always a daunting experience, and the smoother the interview process, the better for you and the candidate.

Candidates will often share their experiences with friends and family, but they might also tell the world via Glassdoor. Many candidates will read Glassdoor before an interview because it helps them prepare and understand your company. Consider how those negative reviews may affect your future hiring pipeline, both in terms of quality and quantity!

If your interview process has mishaps, you could make your company seem unprofessional and disorganized. Candidates tend to pick the company that provides them with the best interview experience. Put another way, if you want to attract the world’s most extraordinary talent, you need to provide an excellent candidate experience, as candidates tend to correlate an excellent candidate experience with an excellent employee experience. Here are some excellent tips for providing a great candidate experience!

1 - Communicate with the candidate

Using effective communication is one of the most critical aspects of a superb candidate experience. If you browse through Glassdoor, one of the most common interview complaints is poor communication.

An excellent practice is to send direct communication every step of the way. For example, once a candidate sends a resume, you should send a confirmation email to let them know you’ve received their application.

Moreover, you should consistently send emails throughout the process. You should send a thank you email after the interview and send constant reminders. If you make the candidate feel valued, you’ll provide a far better candidate experience.

2 - Clearly define the job

One of the most significant mistakes companies make is not defining the job clearly. Therefore, you should try to be as thorough as possible in the advertisement. If you do this, you’ll attract candidates that fit better!

Many candidates write their frustrations on Glassdoor when they realize the job is different from what they expected. If you write a comprehensive list of the job requirements, job duties, and job benefits, you’ll provide a far better candidate experience.

An appealing job advertisement should include a short introduction, role responsibilities, person specification, rewards, and the job location. Make sure you tick all those boxes, and your interview process will run smoothly.

3 - Optimise the application process

Sometimes companies need long application processes because the job is complex, and you must find the right candidate. However, the more streamlined and optimized the application process is, the better the candidate experience will be!

You should make it easy for candidates to upload their resumes and be sure to make the application easy to read. Another great way to optimize the process is by adding open-ended questions. That way, you’ll have a better insight into the candidate’s motivations.

Furthermore, you’ll know if the candidate is the right person for the next step. If your company implements a stellar application process that doesn’t take forever, your company will go a long way towards providing a great candidate experience.

4 - Give or receive feedback

Candidates appreciate it when companies give them feedback on their interview performance. Some companies have decided against giving feedback, but many companies still give feedback.

When an applicant applies to contribute to your business, they appreciate it when you give them excellent feedback on why they were or weren’t successful. It helps the candidate grow as a person and allows them to have more success in future endeavors.

Many candidates are often left confused when companies don’t give them feedback, especially if they had proceeded to multiple rounds of interviews. They might ponder on why you made a decision, but if you decide to provide feedback – they’ll know where they stand. Moreover, why not have a candidate feedback form on the website to understand how to improve the candidate’s application?

5 - Structure the interviews

If companies use structured interviews, they can help candidates prepare and give a better account of themselves. In addition, structured interviews are efficient, easy to manage, and offer an excellent way for companies to contrast and compare candidates.

Furthermore, having a structured interview process allows you to make quick decisions, prevents over-lapping interviews, and enables you to conduct as many interviews as you need.

Do all employers use structured interviews? No, some companies prefer to use unstructured interviews to provide insight into how candidates perform in unpredictable high-pressure environments. However, with that said, structured interviews are a phenomenal way to find the best candidates and streamline your interview process.

6 - Send prompt rejection emails

Many candidates have been to those job interviews where they felt like they performed well and answered every question correctly but didn’t even get a rejection email. There’s nothing worse for candidates than having to guess for weeks on end to see if they were successful.

Moreover, if a candidate receives rejection email weeks or months after the interview, you won’t provide the best candidate experience. If the hiring process takes months to complete, you should let the candidate know that.

There are endless benefits of sending rejection emails. These include keeping your candidates in a candidate pool, preserving your employer brand, and showing appreciation for the candidate’s efforts and time. Of course, nobody enjoys rejection, but you’ll make it easier for your candidate if you reject them politely and timely.

7 - Set clear expectations

Companies that set clear expectations during the application process and stick to them throughout provide a better candidate experience. However, it’s crucial to ensure you stick to these expectations.

If you tell your candidate you’ll give feedback within four days, you should make sure you stick to that. If you provide them with feedback late, you’ll only frustrate the candidate and encourage them to speak negatively about the company.

Although it’s tempting to over-estimate your communication because that’s what candidates would like to hear, you’re better off being honest, rather than hopeful, upfront. Candidates will always appreciate upfront honesty instead of failed expectations. In addition, many companies promise to give candidates feedback but then fail to do so. Your company should avoid this at all costs.

8 - Make your candidates feel comfortable

Does anyone enjoy job interviews? Maybe some people, but generally speaking, most people dislike job interviews. Yet, for many new graduates, job interviews are incredibly important ways to get on the career ladder.

Candidates will be nervous, anxious, and tense. However, an excellent way to get the best interview experience from candidates is by making them feel comfortable. You can do this by providing water, giving candidates tasty snacks, and offering a calming atmosphere.

You could assign a candidate concierge to ensure the candidate feels comfortable. If you have the resources, you could even hire a driver to collect and bring your candidate to the interview.

9 - Train your team

Companies need an excellent interview team because it showcases the company’s ethics, working environment, and it allows candidates to see whether they will enjoy the job.

Therefore, it’s an excellent idea to have a trained interview team. The way your interview team conducts an interview will either sell your company or scare candidates away from your company, so you’ll want the best team conducting the interview.

The best way to build your team’s interview skills is by giving them a brief. It could take 30-45 minutes, but it will give your company the chance to ensure the team conducts the best interviews.

10 - Challenge your candidates

The best candidates appreciate and want a challenge. If you ask candidates relevant questions, you can challenge candidates to provide the best answers. That will allow you to gauge whether the candidate is the best one for you!

If your company has a challenging interview, it drives home that your company sets a high bar for performance and allows candidates to see the potential for growth and career progression.

Moreover, you’ll also gauge which candidates fold under pressure or the candidates that aren’t 100 percent committed to working with your company.

11 - Send candidates a post-interview survey

Companies can ponder on whether they have an excellent candidate experience all they want, but the only way to truly know is by asking the candidates directly. After you’ve conducted the interview, you could always encourage candidates to leave a post-interview survey.

It doesn’t have to be directly after the interview. It could be 30 days after the interview, but either way, if you keep the questions short and concise, you’ll know the upsides and downsides of your interview process quickly.Some questions examples include the following:

• Did the team do a superb job interviewing you today?
• Did you gain an understanding of the company?
• Would you recommend this company to your friends?

Once you’ve obtained this information from the candidate, you’ll know how to improve your application process.

Learn more about providing a great candidate experience

Providing a great candidate experience isn’t always straightforward. It often requires trial and error, lots of candidate feedback, and interview team training. It is especially challenging when you are first scaling your company, as you need to create this experience all while worrying about filling your pipeline at the same time.

This is where Uvaro comes in.Our employer services can help you recruit and extend your sales team, all while our team works with you to ensure that you are providing a world-class onboarding and candidate experience in the process!