The Candidate Experience: Reality or Wishful Thinking

Steps to Ensure Candidates Want to Join Your Firm

One of the most rewarding facets of our work is getting to know candidates and following their career journeys into jobs they love. Sometimes we meet a candidate for the first time, while in other cases it’s someone we’ve worked with before – in either case, we start by listening to their experiences and their hopes. We put ourselves into their shoes; a process that helps us to provide them informed guidance, and  to advise employers on their hiring processes.

 In today’s blog, we’ll look at five questions to ask your team about your candidate experience (CX) and how to ensure you candidates have a positive one.

1.)   What is the reality of your candidate experience?

So often we find that the job seeking experience of the candidate is siloed from the hiring experience of the employer – cyclical patterns and systemic routines define the experience of both – but the candidate and even the hiring team are often in the dark about the process.   The candidate interview process--scheduling, prioritizing, aligning internal messaging across the team, interview training, etc.—is often not known to the hiring team or candidate.  Ensure the entire interview team understands the process (timing, number of finalists required) including the impact of prioritizing and rescheduling.

As you begin the review of a candidate, let them dazzle you with their accomplishments, but also let them show how they may or may not ‘fit’ within the team and its vision. 

2.)   Companies’ tendency is to think that “of course we care about our candidates”, and “of course our processes are thorough, honest, and transparent.” But what systems are you using to see that this, thoroughness, honesty, and transparency, is put into action? Survey all candidates.  These insights provide a great way of listening and learning about the reality of your processes.  Be sure to ask, would they apply again if another opportunity arose? 

Read, reflect, and tinker. 

 
3.)   Are we setting proper expectations?

Layout expectations and the process upfront.

We love what we found with Digital Ocean’s approach to outlining the hiring process up front. A well-written webpage that lays out the hiring philosophy, company ethos, and interview process provides transparency to the company hiring managers and candidates alike.  

 Is your internal candidate review processes long-winded and consequently your potential hires finding homes elsewhere? Job seeking can be a lonely and scary place – companies who are empathetic and transparent with the process will be remembered fondly, even if the candidate is released.

4.)   Are we asking too much?

In e-commerce, it’s called ‘abandoned carts’ – shoppers who get partway through an online shopping experience, and then stop. Retailers can measure  how often this occurs to customers, but can recruiters measure how often candidates abandon an application process? With talent acquisition competition at an all time high, it’s important to be sure you’re not forcing your next hire to jump through outdated hoops. Do you really need the candidates to manually type what is also listed on their resume?  Reexamine your process from beginning to end. Focus less on repetitive and time-consuming tasks, and more on asking challenging questions that help you separate your top candidates more quickly.

5.)   Are we welcoming candidates with the culture and brand we want?

What does your front door look like? Who is the first person with whom a candidate will engage with at your company or even earlier your Careers page? Take time to reflect on the company’s mission and know – intimately – the working environment your leadership seeks to create in the workplace. As you begin the review of a candidate, let them dazzle you with their accomplishments, but also let them show how they may or may not ‘fit’ within the team and its vision. 

As we continue to adapt to trends and best practices, we want to hear from you.  Where have your experiences in the hiring process been subpar? Did you have an experience with a company that has positively impacted  the way you now work through recruitment and CX? We’d love to hear from you! Reach out to us at info@bensonsearch.com to continue the conversation.