How to create a stand-out candidate experience
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Bad candidate experiences are damaging for brands at the best of times, but they have even more serious consequences in a tight labour market when you can’t afford to lose top applicants.
The good news? Small actions can make a significant impact on both successful and unsuccessful candidates. If you take an organised approach to recruitment from the outset, and commit to strong communication, you’re starting in the right place.
Know what you’re looking for
As with any goal, it’s crucial to clearly articulate what you’re looking for in a successful candidate. And this doesn’t just entail "what’s in it for you" as the employer. You need to detail exactly what you want the person to do in their role and what you offer in return. This isn’t to say there can’t be flexibility around your requirements, but that flexibility must bend around a starting point.
Paint a picture for your potential new employee of what a day, a week and a month might look like in their new role. What will they be working on? Who will they be working with? How does their work impact the organisation? Bringing the position to life in this way will show applicants that you have a clear vision for the role, and a structure for them to step into. Wishy/washy job ads and descriptions don’t fill candidates with confidence in your organisation.
Communicate, and do it often
Where a lot of internal and external recruiters fall down is in keeping in touch with their candidates. And there’s no excuse for it with the automation tools that are now available. At the very least, set up an email that lets applicants know their CV has been received and what your recruitment process entails.
To ensure candidates aren’t left hanging for weeks waiting for answers, have a deadline for how long each stage in your recruitment process will take, and make sure you go back to applicants on time.
Communicating the process upfront and staying in touch according to pre-set deadlines makes the experience a lot smoother and less frustrating for candidates.
Interview training
It goes without saying that there are definite dos and don’ts when interviewing candidates. But while seasoned recruiters might know these rules inside out, and have fine-tuned the best and most appropriate questions to ask applicants, hiring managers might not always be quite so savvy.
To avoid interviewers saying the wrong thing, and bringing a potential legal, PR, branding etc. nightmare down on the business, it’s wise for HR and recruiters to make sure everyone involved in interviewing candidates is up to speed on how to do it. Don’t assume it’s common sense - what might seem a reasonable question to a hiring manager who hasn’t interviewed for some years, may no longer be acceptable.
If you’re unsure if your candidate experience is up to the mark, walk through it yourself step by step, putting yourself in the candidate’s shoes. And remember that being on the job market can be an extremely stressful and unsettling time for people. So, every measure you take to ease someone through your recruitment process shows you value their time and emotional investment.
RELATED TERMS
Onboarding is the process of integrating new hires into the company, guiding them through the offer and acceptance stages, induction, and activities including payroll, tax and superannuation compliance, as well as other basic training. Companies with efficient onboarding processes benefit from new workers integrating seamlessly into the workforce and spending less time on administrative tasks.
The practice of actively seeking, locating, and employing people for a certain position or career in a corporation is known as recruitment.
Shandel McAuliffe
Shandel has recently returned to Australia after working in the UK for eight years. Shandel's experience in the UK included over three years at the CIPD in their marketing, marcomms and events teams, followed by two plus years with The Adecco Group UK&I in marketing, PR, internal comms and project management. Cementing Shandel's experience in the HR industry, she was the head of content for Cezanne HR, a full-lifecycle HR software solution, for the two years prior to her return to Australia.
Shandel has previous experience as a copy writer, proofreader and copy editor, and a keen interest in HR, leadership and psychology. She's excited to be at the helm of HR Leader as its editor, bringing new and innovative ideas to the publication's audience, drawing on her time overseas and learning from experts closer to home in Australia.