Five ways to attract talent with better candidate experience

The job market

Set your company up to attract top talent

In today's job market, organizations face ever-increasing competition to attract and retain top talent.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate is 3.5%—a level not seen since 1969—and in 2022, 32% of the workforce voluntary left their role. The European Commission reports unemployment at 5.9% and OECD reports the global rate at 4.8%. As companies struggle to hire for new roles or backfill employees who have resigned, one of the biggest differentiators is providing a positive candidate experience—including everything from the initial application to onboarding.

A positive candidate experience can make a huge difference in attracting high-quality candidates, improving your organization’s reputation, and onboarding candidates who are a good fit. Conversely, a negative candidate experience can cause candidates to drop out of the recruitment process and can create a negative impression of your brand.

Based on my experience working with companies across many industries and around the world, here are a few ways to use technology and process optimization to improve the candidate experience and help your organization stand out.

The U.S. unemployment rate is just 3.5%—a low level not seen since 1969, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Application basics

1. Streamline the application process

One of the biggest complaints recruiting teams hear from candidates is the length and complexity of the application process. Streamlining the application process by reducing the number of steps and eliminating unnecessary questions can make a huge difference.

A world-class talent management suite can be a big help here. Look for integrations that will allow for data to be collected once and passed from one module to the next. Not only will this simplify the process for candidates, it also can greatly reduce confusion and errors. A well-designed process also can reduce cycle times and increase candidate throughput.

Communications

2. Communicate with candidates at every step of the hiring process

Candidates want to know where they stand in the hiring process. Regular communication can help keep candidates engaged and informed. Send automated emails and or texts to let candidates know when their application has been received, when they move to the next stage, and if they are no longer being considered. Make sure to personalize the communications as much as possible.

Consider, too, measuring the time spent in each step of your process. You can use those details to create a candidate “trail guide” that includes typical number of days for each stage of the journey. This information can help candidates understand their status, and it can help your organization identify ways to address bottlenecks and reduce turnaround times.

Feedback loop

3. Provide constructive feedback to strong candidates that you reject

If a candidate is not selected for a position, providing constructive feedback can help them improve their job search. Establish a way for recruiting teams to be specific about why candidates were not selected and offer suggestions on how they can improve. This shows candidates that you care about their professional development. A candidate who gets rejected in a productive way may recommend the company to their friends or later decide to apply for a role that’s a better fit.

There are ways to automate this feedback by refining your job disposition codes and creating tailored templates for communication at every step of the process. However, it’s always great to inject human interaction whenever possible to keep things real.

Interactive technology

4. Use interactive technology to enhance the candidate selection experience

Interactive technology can be used to enhance the candidate experience in many ways. For example, video interviewing software can be used to conduct remove interviews, saving time and money for both the candidate and the company. An artificial intelligence platform that manages interview scheduling can save time and money and help the candidate feel more control over the process. Chatbots can be used to provide candidates with instant answers to their questions. AI technology that marches resumes to job descriptions is another fast-growing offering, which can be valuable in many situations.

These types of technologies, if implemented well, can build confidence in the way your organization is being run and how well you will be able to transform as the business landscape changes.