How to Improve the Candidate Experience During the Hiring Process

This is Part 1 of our two-part guide on how to improve the candidate experience during the hiring process. In this article, we discuss what makes a good candidate experience and provide advanced strategies to improve the candidate experience during the hiring process. In Part 2, we explore how Verifile’s frictionless screening process can help you maintain a positive candidate experience to the very end.

In the current talent markets, candidates still retain substantial leverage, driven by ongoing skill shortages and a competitive landscape for top talent. Despite some stabilisation following the 'Great Resignation' that occurred in the aftermath of Covid-19, the demand for specific skill sets remains high. This continues to give candidates significant control in selecting their employers, especially in sectors such as technology, healthcare, and engineering, where the gap between job openings and qualified candidates persists.

To thrive in a fiercely competitive market, it's crucial for companies to prioritise creating a positive candidate experience at every stage of the recruitment process. 30% of workers surveyed by Reed say that they’re unlikely to apply to a company again, or recommend it to a friend, after a negative application experience.

Candidates want to feel valued and respected from the moment they fill out an application to when they receive a final decision from your HR department. Setting a good impression from the get-go carries on to employment and allows candidates to start the job with a positive impression of your company.

What is the Candidate Experience?

The candidate experience can be defined as how an applicant or new hire feels about an employer. The experience begins during the application process and can cover all recruitment touch points including:

Advertisement (job description)
Job search (your website’s career page)
Application (ease of instructions & forms, user-friendly website)
Communications (transparency, acknowledgement, feedback)
Interview (in-person, video, or telephone)
Background screening (ease, efficiency)

All of these interactions affect how a candidate perceives your company before they even begin the job.

What Makes a Good Candidate Experience?

A good candidate experience places the applicant at the centre of the hiring process. Every interaction is done with the intent of making candidates feel valued, appreciated, and respected from the very beginning and ensuring a positive and enjoyable experience whether they are hired or not.
Four important aspects of a positive candidate experience are:

Clear communication
Transparency
Streamlined hiring process
Efficient background checks

Investing in the above not only improves the candidate experience but can save your company time and money by also enhancing the experience for recruiters and HR managers.

Advanced Strategies to Improve the Candidate Experience During the Hiring Process

Continuing from the points above, below you will find advanced strategies to improve the candidate experience for your applicants and ensure your company makes a positive first impression.

1. Clear Communication
Good communication is vital for the candidate experience as it shows you respect them and value the time they’ve put into their application and interview. It’s all too common for job applicants to be ghosted by recruiters after applying or interviewing for a role. While the delay in response may not be the fault of the recruiter, it’s important to maintain communication with the candidate to avoid leaving them in the dark.

Advanced Strategy: Personalise communication by addressing candidates by name and referencing specific details from their application. Use a mix of email, phone calls, and SMS to keep candidates informed and engaged.

Implementation Tips:

Set up an automatic response that goes out whenever an application is received, and if possible, follow up with a personal email to reassure candidates that their application is being reviewed.
If there are delays with the hiring, communicate with applicants and let them know that the position has yet to be filled.
After an interview, call the candidate and let them know if they haven’t received a job. Offer feedback and wish them luck in the job search.

2. Transparency
Research by CareerBuilder found that 83% of candidates felt their experience would be improved if employers gave more information about the hiring process. This not only sets expectations from the beginning but makes candidates feel more valued and involved in the process.

Advanced Strategy: Use advanced technologies like candidate portals where candidates can log in and check the status of their application in real time.

Implementation Tips:

Explain how many interviews will be held in total.
Let candidates know who they will be meeting in the interview.
Clarify how long an interview is expected to take.
Inform candidates early on if background screening will be part of the hiring process.
Let candidates know as soon as possible if you’re no longer considering them for the role.

3. Streamlined Hiring Process
A streamlined hiring process not only improves the candidate experience but also increases efficiency for your company. The goal is to create a simple and effective process that guides job seekers through the recruitment funnel swiftly and easily.

Advanced Strategy: Implement AI-driven recruitment tools to automate resume screening and identify top candidates efficiently.

Implementation Tips:

Introduce a user-friendly hiring platform that prioritises the applicant. Make it easy for job candidates to fill in their information, add attachments, and save their details for the future.
Ensure your website is mobile-responsive and easy to navigate on desktop, smartphone, and tablet, to allow candidates more opportunities to apply and manage their applications.
Have a support team available to help with questions and concerns, showing candidates that your company is supportive of their employees and takes the hiring process seriously.

4. Efficient Background Checks
Many background check processes are lengthy and can be a source of frustration for job applicants as they juggle printing, signing, scanning, and uploading multiple files. To improve the candidate experience, and reduce the amount of work they need to do, you can start by having a more efficient screening process.

Advanced Strategy: Choose a background screening provider that offers an integrated online portal for easy document submission and status tracking. Ensure the process is mobile-friendly and provide clear instructions and support to candidates.

Implementation Tips:

Go paperless with a background screening provider that has an online portal. This allows candidates to quickly fill in their information from a desktop, smartphone, or tablet, and save their information to continue their application later.
Provide clear information on the process and guidance on how to use the online portal. Videos are a great way to do this.
Offer customer service and support that can guide candidates throughout the process and clarify any questions or concerns they may have.
Move the background check process online to offer faster turnaround times. This benefits both the candidate and your company by reducing the chance that applicants will accept jobs elsewhere due to delays.
Integrate your Applicant Tracking System (ATS) with the background check provider to streamline the workflow for the recruitment team. While this may not directly impact candidates, it significantly increases efficiency for the recruitment team, allowing them to focus more on candidate engagement and less on administrative tasks.

5. Integration with Employer Branding
The candidate experience impacts employer branding significantly. Aligning your recruitment processes with your brand values can attract top talent and ensure consistency in your company’s messaging.

Implementation Tips:

Showcase your company culture and values throughout the hiring process. Use your career page, job descriptions, and social media to highlight what makes your company a great place to work.
Provide a seamless and positive experience that reflects your company’s commitment to its employees.

6. Measuring Success
To continuously improve the candidate experience, it’s essential to measure the success of your initiatives. Regularly review and update your hiring process based on feedback and performance metrics.

Metrics to Track:

Candidate Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Time-to-hire
Candidate satisfaction surveys
Application completion rates
Interview-to-offer ratios

7. Continuous Improvement and Feedback Loop
Create a feedback loop by soliciting feedback from candidates at various stages of the hiring process. Use this feedback to make iterative improvements and stay responsive to candidate needs.

Implementation Tips:

Send out surveys to candidates after each stage of the hiring process.
Analyse the feedback to identify common pain points and areas for improvement.
Implement changes based on feedback and monitor the impact on candidate experience.

A good impression starts from the very beginning

The candidate experience is not something that should be overlooked. Instead, companies should strive to exceed expectations by making job applicants feel valued and appreciated for their time. A candidate who leaves the hiring process feeling respected is more likely to start the job with a positive attitude and confidence that they’ve made the right decision to dedicate their efforts to your company.

If you’d like to improve the candidate experience by making your background screening process more efficient, we’d love to help you. Verifile is a leading background screening provider that makes it easy for both companies and candidates to conduct their background checks online. Our service is simple, efficient, and user-friendly, and we have a dedicated candidate support team ready to answer questions and queries.

Speak to our team to see how we can help you create a background screening programme that puts candidates first. Give us a call on +44 (0) 1234 60 80 90 or send an email to sales@verifile.co.uk.

Read Part 2, How Effective Screening Can Enhance Your Candidate Experience, to get an insight into how Verifile’s frictionless screening process can help you maintain a positive candidate experience to the very end.