Candidate experience is a popular buzzword and the most crucial aspect of attracting talent. It means how candidates feel about your organization while interacting and communicating. It begins by filling up the job application process and continues throughout the recruitment. Candidate experience, whether it is good or bad, influences candidates while deciding to apply to your organization or accept the job offer. 

In the digitally connected era, the candidate experience is the priority for an organization. Recruitment is a two-way process. If you are looking for a perfect fit for your company, applicants are also looking for an organization that meets their needs and matches their values.

By upgrading the candidate experience, you can dramatically increase the percentage of long-term hires and ensure that the candidate will come with a positive attitude, keeping company reputation unflawed. Here are a few tips which give you an idea on how to provide an exceptional candidate experience.

Tips to improve candidate experience:

• Use of Technology

The journey of a happy employee begins with being a candidate who is genuinely interested, engaged, aligned to the role and eager to work with you. Most often a time-consuming application process is a reason for poor candidate experience. A bad application not only discourages a single candidate at the moment but might have a long-lasting effect on employer branding.

An organization can cut down the time required for the job application process by making it one-click and mobile-friendly application.

Screening and shortening job application process are the areas where technology can make a huge difference. A secure and reliable application tracking system (ATS) can create a candidate database and manage the entire selection process from one place. Say goodbye to paperwork, automate workflow and manage secure and persistent data.

But how can you enhance the functionality of an ATS?

Take an example. While applying, it annoys candidates when they have to fill in the same information again and again. They leave the application in between and switch to another website.

The result: A negative candidate experience.

Here, is the solution:

Using the Resume Parser in your ATS will speed up the application process. The candidate uploads his resume, and he is done with the job application process. Because a parser extracts the data from the candidate’s resume and populates the data fields.

• Communication is the King

Candidates do not want to be left in the dark. Be sure to communicate with the candidates regularly. Send notifications on receipt of their job application and inform them about the progress at every stage of the recruitment process.

•  Provide a Clear Job Description

Job Description is an essential item related to the job that candidates look for while searching for a job. Most companies do not pay attention to this aspect. If the job description is not correct, it can negatively affect a candidate. The candidates would like to know what the company can do for them and what is expected out of them. Writing long sentences only in roles and responsibilities is not the right way. Keep it short, well-defined and understandable.

• Sharing Updates

You can update the latest status of the job opening so that the candidates can apply for jobs before the deadline. If the job is closed, share the same with them so that they don’t waste their time applying for the job.

As per the 2017 Career Builder Candidate Experience Report,  83 % of candidates say it would significantly improve the overall experience if employers could set expectations by providing a clear timeline of the hiring process.

•  Treat Candidates as Your Customers

Treat your candidates like your customers and understand their needs, motivational factor for applying in your organization. You can start scheduling a phone call for interviewing the candidate to understand his/her expectation about their mission, their values, their career needs, etc. While inviting the candidates for the next few steps of the interview, allow them to book a slot convenient to them. Sending emails will act as a reminder before the meeting.

• Video Interview

Recruitment is exploring talent beyond its boundaries. Today, all your candidates are not from the city or in the next town. Some of them can be located anywhere in the country or even around the world. Great talent does not know any place. If so, you need to be more flexible and take extra care for scheduling the interview with those candidates who are far away. Video interviews can help to narrow down their travels, showing that you are willing to adapt and make the process a little easier.

• Social Media

Online recruitment is about finding and building relationships with all qualified candidates. Social media is where people hang online to express ideas and interact with each other. Websites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and other handful provide an excellent opportunity for employers to engage with the candidates – many of whom will never meet through traditional sources. Use social logins on your career page and make it easy for the candidates to apply from their social profiles directly. This one-click process makes resume submission super easy.

•  Glitch-free Web page

The applicant gets a positive or negative impact on the company’s Career Page. The application process should be integrated with this page so that candidates do not face any technical glitch while applying for a job. Be very careful when posting content on this page; it should include details about new posts, company culture, rewards, and news which makes the job application smooth. Thus, the candidate feels motivated enough to join the organization.

Don’t you feel that using these tips can put a positive impact on each candidate who applies to your company?

What are your views on candidate experience? Share with us.

Source: http://bit.ly/2ThBMT0