The recruiting game has revolutionized entirely in the past decades. Today, almost every organization has shifted towards a candidate-driven approach, focusing on enhancing the candidate experience.

Every candidate you interview is going to talk about you. That’s right – and this is why focusing on improving candidate experience should be the top priority for every recruiter, which will help build an employer brand in the corporate world.

But what exactly is a candidate experience?

A candidate experience is what a candidate feels once they experience your hiring process. It all starts with the first interaction of you and the candidate until they accept or reject your job offer. And more importantly, it’s the part of the recruitment process that can either result in a great candidate-employer relationship or end in a worse situation.

A candidate's experience is the key to developing a positive corporate brand. Also, if your candidates are treated excellently, this can really influence their decision if they have multiple job offers on the table. A good candidate experience can help, but an awesome one can help you outrank your competitors.

That said, here are some of the benefits your organization can get when you focus on a candidate-driven approach:

• Better quality, more committed employees
• Good business sense
• Improved employer brand
• Excellent marketing opportunity
• More referrals and improved hiring cycle
• Reduce both time and cost per hire

Now you have a clear understanding of what candidate experience is and why it is essential. Let’s move on to some practical tips which you can implement to improve your candidate experience.

Write A Precise Job Description

A job description is the first thing that a candidate will interact with, and you don’t want them to overlook your job posting and move on to another.

Job descriptions are the most important part of the recruiting process, and they should be well-crafted. What makes a job seeker apply for a particular position? Writing a compelling job description including all the relevant information related to the job profile is a way to go. You must include the required technical skills, soft skills, educational qualifications, and what will be their day-to-day responsibilities. Plus, including a short brief about your organization will be a win-win situation.

Candidates also want to know the salary range and benefits your organization offers to them. All they want is an easy-to-read format.

You might have heard about candidates saying, “we didn’t get any feedback from the organization.” Not informing the candidates about your decision can directly impact your employer brand.

Candidates are always in a rush to get a job, and they won’t wait 2-3 weeks for your mail whether they are selected or not. They will move on to other good opportunities. So, it is essential to let them know as soon as you decide not to move forward with the candidate.

Sending a direct rejection mail is always better than sending nothing. It plays a crucial role in enhancing the candidate experience. Research states that over 25% of candidates reply “thank you” just for letting them know.

Structured interviews play a crucial role in improving the candidate experience and also helps recruiters to streamline the process. Today, remote hiring is a new norm in the corporate world. Thanks to the technological advancements which has helped to make the hiring process easier and simple for recruiters.

Using the right remote interview tools, such as Skype, Zoom, etc., enhances not only the candidate experience but also hires the right talent for your company. Traveling for you and the candidate can be time-consuming, so why don’t you take remote interviews from the comfort of your home?

Talking about technological advancements, if you want to hire a technical team for your organization, you can leverage the power of online coding interview tools that help you assess a candidate’s technical skills. It uses a grading system to determine whether the candidate is the right fit or not.

Also, it is convenient for candidates as well. They can attempt the questions whenever they feel like it. Additionally, it leaves a good impression on the candidates that your organization uses all the modern technologies to streamline the processes. This will display a picture in the candidate's minds that they don’t have to work on the old-school technologies if they get selected in your company.

Once you have shortlisted the candidates, send them a mail regarding the interview process, alongside a clear set of instructions on how to prepare and use the tool (in case of remote hiring).

Anticipate candidate’s questions and help them out as much as you can; your candidate experience will really benefit from it.

After completing the interview process, some candidates might be rejected due to a lack of technical skills or other reasons. What you can do is – keep in touch with those candidates and let them know about future job openings in your company. You never know who you rejected before can be the right fit for that new role now.

It will help you hire the right talent and enhance the experience of those candidates with your organization. As a recruiter, you need to create a strong and remarkable candidate experience, which can have a long-lasting effect.

Organizations which focus on creating a good candidate experience and understand their needs are less likely to struggle with their hiring efforts.

The way you or your team interview the candidates will either sell candidates on the position or make them run away. To enhance the candidate experience and onboard the right talent, set a training session for an hour to help your team improve their interview skills and make sure they know how to address the candidates’ queries.

According to shrm, more than 60% of job seekers quit the applying process in the middle because of the length and complexity.

A lengthy applying process can stop candidates from applying and also makes the candidate experience much poorer.

So, to make the application process easy and straightforward for the candidates, you must test your own application process and check whether it is easy for candidates to apply or not. If any changes are required, do it as soon as possible. Consider asking only what you need from people during the first interaction.

Research states that 8 out of 10 candidates visit a company’s website right after applying for the job. After seeing your website, if candidates don’t find your website worth it, it can impact their decision.

However, you can use this chance to make your website a one-stop shop that provides an answer to all the questions a candidate may have. Make sure to make your website loading speed faster and deliver valuable and relevant information to the candidates.

Your career page is the best illustration of your company and a great place to showcase your work culture and environment.

Focusing on improving the candidate experience is your first step towards success. A great candidate experience can help you develop an employer brand in the corporate world.

Getting feedback from candidates is also important – as it will help you identify which parts of your recruiting process are going well and which are not. The tips we mentioned above will help you enhance the candidate experience and hire the right talent for your organization to achieve the desired goals.

Happy Hiring!!