Let’s get something straight right away, “selling the company” isn’t something that an organization does just to attract candidates. Selling the company fortifies the employer brand, creates fans and customers and tells the company culture story. In this respect, hiring managers are doing a lot more than just hiring, but they might not be aware of that.

The relationship with a candidate doesn’t begin and end in the recruiting process, and that is a vital distinction for hiring mangers to make. According to a Mystery Applicant study, 49% of candidates have some relationship with a company prior to applying and about 20% of these will be existing customers. That should increase your awareness of the candidate experience.

Offer a Better the Best Candidate Experience

38% of candidates are less likely to use a product or service as a result of a poor candidate experience with the company. When you consider that a large portion of those candidates are potentially current or former customers, a poor experience can do some serious damage to business. Remember, candidates are customers. Recruiting pro and founder of Blogging4Jobs, Jessica Miller-Merrell (@Blogging4Jobs) said:

“Recruiting is not just about filling an open position any longer. Recruiting is another form of marketing and the only way for employer branding to survive the hiring process is to create a candidate-centric approach that prioritizes the candidate experience.”

The best candidate experience is tailored, convenient and values the candidate’s resources like time, money and traveling inconveniences. Video interviewing does all of the above. The convenience is unparalleled, the customization is simple and it saves on resources for both the candidate and the company.

Prove It

If you have a company culture to be proud of, prove it. Let candidates hear from employees and see first hand what your company has to offer. This can be done through employee testimonials or videos on the career page.

Current employees can also be included in the interview process. This is made exponentially easier with virtual interviewing. Multiple interviewers can record their questions remotely or be part of a live interview from anywhere at any time. This is a great way to foster transparency while giving current employees an opportunity to be a part of building the company culture through the hiring process.

Ask Them to Share Their Experience

Did you know that 64% of candidates will share their experience on social media? Did you also know that social media can be used for good as well as evil? That is to say that it’s not all bad. In fact, asking candidates to share their experience will do a couple of things for your organization.

Firstly, if you truly have a hiring process to be proud of –one that actually treats candidates like customers, asking them to share their experience will likely result in a positive social relationship. Secondly, this can create accountability among your hiring managers to truly offer the best experience that they can. This could potentially act as a great barometer for tracking success, making HR and recruiting investment decisions and the engagement of your hiring department.

I’ll quote it again, “Recruiting is another form of marketing”. It is vital that any organization realize this and put it to action in every point of contact with customers and candidates alike. All that being said, recruiting managers will only be as empowered to offer a great experience to candidates, as their tools and leadership will let them. 

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