The Importance of Candidate Experience During the Recruitment Process

The recruitment process is the best time for candidates and recruiters to get to know each other. In order for the results to meet needs, recruitment must be carried out using the right steps. Recruitment is also an initial process that also influences candidates' decisions before working at the company.

Therefore, it is important for every recruiter to pay attention to every process during recruitment. A good candidate is quite easy to see from a resume, but preparing a candidate's experience in going through the recruitment process is not an easy thing. The following are reasons and ways to measure candidate experience during the recruitment process.

What is the importance of a candidate's recruitment experience?

As with customer satisfaction, work experience and candidate recruitment are also very important because they influence company performance.

The customer experience given to a product or service also influences people's impression of the company. It is possible that your company's loyal customers are among the candidates who will work for the company.

A bad experience in the recruitment process can certainly change the candidate's perception of the company. This will have the impact of reducing the candidate's trust in the company as a place to work and as a brand.

Based on the 2021 Talent Trends report, 9 out of 10 respondents surveyed experienced unpleasant experiences during the interview stage. At least half of them expressed dissatisfaction which influenced their decision to accept a job offer.

When candidates get multiple job offers, they tend to choose companies that make them feel welcome during the interview experience. This decision is still taken even though often the offer does not necessarily provide the best salary.

How to Create a Delightful Candidate Experience

To be able to provide a pleasant experience for prospective job applicants, here are several important things to pay attention to during the recruitment process.

Create a convenient application process

Creating a good candidate experience requires companies to review the hiring process from pre-registration to onboarding. To start, make your candidate's job search process as enjoyable as possible.

This means making sure that the career and job descriptions are clear and to the point to keep the recruitment process smooth.

Align the way the HR team communicates

Communication between the HR team and applicants influences the candidate's persona towards the company. A small example is an interview call or interview at the first stage of the recruitment process.

When you get a call from a company, the HR team will become the frontliners who represent the brand. Therefore, make sure that all the values believed in by the brand are properly reflected by the HR team.

Transparency of the interview process

In some situations, the interview stage may feel difficult to control. For candidates, it is usually because there are three things that are felt in general, namely:

• lack of follow-up after the interview,
• lack of transparency regarding job expectations, and
• the interview process is long and tedious.

When they feel like they don't know anything due to lack of communication, they will feel uncomfortable and even confused.

Additionally, respect the candidate's time with the right number of interview questions. You also need to update them on their overall recruitment experience.

According to Google's monitoring of its hiring process, four interviews are more than enough to make an informed hiring decision. The thing to do is ask the right questions.

Those who successfully pass must be kept up to date with information about the next stage of the interview. This information can include who will carry out the interview or what test tasks will be carried out.

Response after interview

The way a company informs you after an interview also significantly influences a candidate's recruitment experience.

It is important for companies to provide clear and timely feedback. Will the job offer be given to the candidate or not?

Generally, each candidate will communicate with each other, especially if they come from the same industry. Even more so if you want them to recommend your company to others, or even apply for other jobs in the future.

Candidates who are rejected and have a bad experience will probably tell others about their experience. This will create negative publicity that will affect your ability to attract potential future employees.

Glassdoor also found that its users read at least six reviews before forming an opinion about a company. Additionally, 70% of job seekers now read reviews before making a career decision.

The consistent attitude of the HR team from the initial stage until the candidate officially joins the team is a form of the company's appreciation for its employees. For this reason, the candidate's experience during the recruitment process until employment is also important for the company's success.