With competition for top technical talent at an all-time high, it can be difficult for employers to attract the candidates they want, and even more difficult to get the best candidates to sign. Exceptional candidates are often poached during the interview process and many will just drop out if they feel like their time is being wasted.

This is where candidate experience comes into play.

From the moment a candidate first looks at your website, through to their interview and contract negotiation, how the candidate feels treated throughout the process plays a big role in whether they take the job. But the consequences of candidate experience don’t stop there. A poor candidate experience can have a knock-on effect, negatively affecting the employer brand and the organisation’s ability to attract top talent in the future.

Why else is the candidate experience so important?

It is an indicator of how the company works

For applicants, candidate experience is their first indication of the overall experience of being employed at that company. Careerbuilder found that 68% of candidates think the way they are treated in the hiring process reflects how the company treats its employees. Who wants to work for a company that is slow to respond, seemingly disorganised and unclear about processes? Candidates will simply walk away if they get the impression it is not a good company to work for.

There are plenty of employers out there

Another reason candidate experience matters so much is that the demand for tech candidates is higher than the supply. There is a deficit of technology talent on the market and candidates expect better treatment if a company wants them onboard. 

Your reputation is at risk

Research has found that candidates who had a bad candidate experience are far more likely to tell others not to apply to an organisation, which could include a negative Comparably or Glassdoor review. With that in mind, assume that every candidate who applies for a role with your organisation is reading those types of sites prior to making a decision to interview. What your employer brand is saying about your organisation likely determines whether or not you will ever get a chance to speak with the candidates you wish to attract.

While many companies know what candidate experience is, it isn’t always given the attention it deserves in the talent acquisition process.  Nor are companies fully appreciating how it impacts their employer brand and the perception of their corporate culture. The best way to look at it is like this: employees are everything to a company’s success.  A star hire has the ability to transform a product, department or team. Getting the right people should be any organisation’s top priority, and to get the right people you have to make them want to work for you from the moment they do their first Google search to find you.

Where do you start in the evaluation (and improvement) of your candidate experience processes?  We suggest that you start first with a clear view of your current employer brand.  What are the employer rating sites saying about your organisation culture and processes? Whether it is a perception or a reality, you need to start corrective action work on the top themes you see in the feedback from these sites. It is also critical that you respond to the feedback that is posted so past and future candidates know that you understand what has been flawed in your processes, and that you care about the feedback and are working on a fix.

Beyond this, there are some specific steps you can take to make the candidate experience a positive one, and help attract the right candidates for your company.  Each of these steps could be implemented immediately, helping to ensure all your future candidates have a candidate experience that increases their chances of making you their first choice. In part II of this blog, we will outline each of these actions so that you can get started, and stop missing out on great candidates.

About Oliver Parks

Oliver Parks offers search-based recruitment solutions to the technology sector, specialising in the ERP, CRM, CMS, ECM, BI and Open Source Technology spaces. The firm’s multilingual consultants operate in narrowly-defined niche market segments, enabling them to gain extensive knowledge of the people and companies operating in each technology.  Oliver Parks has a proven track-record with more than 100,000 candidates worldwide and more than 300 clients globally.