In a candidate-driven work environment, a first experience that delights is everything. 75% of employees who had a positive candidate experience during hiring say it influenced their decision to accept the job offer. 50% say they've turned down offers after a bad experience.
The candidate experience may just focus on applicants, but their positive experience is important for your company whether or not they become employees. Great candidate experience is too influential to be optional.
Keep reading to learn three of the biggest benefits of a great candidate experience for both candidates and the business.
You could be missing out on as many as 50% of great candidates because of bad #candidateexperience:1. The Positive Impact on Your Bottom Line
Big Consequences for Bad Candidate Experience
- 50% of candidates say after a bad candidate experience, they’ll no longer be a customer of the company.
- Negative online reviews discourage more than half of job seekers from applying.
- 35% of hiring managers say their company has missed out on a great candidate because hiring took too long.
In many industries, candidates are also paying customers, so it's important to consider the impact of bad candidate experience on your bottom line. It can deter others from submitting applications and even from purchasing your company’s products or services. In fact, 50% of workers say after a bad application experience, they would no longer buy products from that company.
Applicants’ negative experiences can spread like wildfire, too. Of the candidates that have a less than positive experience during the hiring process, 57% say they would share it online and with their friends, family, and colleagues. Those negative online reviews can also discourage more than half of would-be candidates from submitting their applications and can cause damage to your company’s reputation.
A great candidate experience impacts the bottom line and your company’s reputation, too, which is great news because positive candidate experiences can spread even faster than negative ones. Following a good candidate experience, 75% of candidates said they’d share it, and 67% of candidates say they would recommend the company — even if they weren’t hired!
Good candidate experience also increases the likelihood an applicant will accept an offer. Think about it — would you rather work at a company with a defined employer brand, a smooth hiring process, and clear expectations, or a company with a vague job description that took ten weeks to make an offer?
People are going to talk, and it can impact your bottom line. Start off on the right foot with an engaging candidate experience so they can spread positive statements about your company’s hiring process.
2. Faster Hiring and Fewer Vacant Roles
As we mentioned, the application and interview process heavily influences whether or not qualified candidates will accept a job offer. Sometimes, the only difference between two companies is speed, where one company’s hiring process is much faster than the other. Considering the fact that a long, complicated process is one of the top reasons candidates will ghost an employer.
Increase the likelihood that your applicants will accept positions if offered with a fast recruiting process and engaging candidate experience. That means staying in touch with candidates using software solutions like an Applicant Tracking System (ATS).
Recruiters can keep the hiring process moving quickly using ATS tools and features:
- Branded careers sites allow your company to put its best foot forward and show applicants what it has to offer employees
- Your application process can be more accessible and available to more candidates with applications that are submitted via text message or on LinkedIn, mobile-friendly, and available in multiple languages
- Texting tools enable faster communication with candidates — and 89% of job seekers prefer to text about jobs
- Virtual interview tools, including automatic virtual interview links, easy interview scheduling, and mobile-friendly interview guides help expedite interviews and simplify tedious HR tasks
3. Leave a Good Impression on Candidates Who Aren’t Hired
A passive talent pool of former candidates that would apply again is a huge asset. You can reach out to former candidates if a position opens up matching their skills and qualifications. Since they’re already at least somewhat familiar with your company, it’s far more likely you’ll get a response.
But, it’s unlikely past candidates will want to hear about future opportunities if they had a bad candidate experience. Leave a good impression on candidates who aren’t chosen with prompt, consistent communication.
According to recent research from Lighthouse Research & Advisory, 71% of rejected candidates want to know if they’re out of the running as soon as possible. Eight in 10 wouldn’t apply again if they hadn’t received feedback about their previous application.
Does your #CandidateExperience include notifying candidates when their application is rejected? 71% want to know right away:Considering that data, it’s no surprise that Talent Board’s 2021 North American Candidate Experience (CandE) Report found that companies with the highest candidate experience rankings communicate with applicants far more often than their lower-ranked counterparts.
Take your communication cues from the companies that are getting candidate experience right:
- Acknowledge applicant interest, like sending an automatic email after applications are submitted
- Let candidates know if they’re no longer being considered, even if they didn’t interview
- Stay in touch with candidates consistently “from pre-application to onboarding”
- Ask for and provide candidate and new hire feedback
- Set expectations with candidates for the hiring process, e.g. letting them know the number of interviews to expect and who they will interview with
- Evaluating and improving recruitment processes and candidate experience on a regular basis
In a competitive hiring market, a wonderful candidate experience isn’t optional — it’s a must for cultivating a passive talent pipeline, hiring faster, and maintaining a good reputation as a company.
Start improving your candidate experience today. First, find out how ClearCompany uses a Quality of Recruiting Survey to get valuable feedback from new hires. Then, download our template and start surveying your new employees right away.
Your Talent Acquisition Survey bundle includes three templates:
- Quality of Recruiting Survey
- Quality of Onboarding Survey for New Hires
- Quality of Hire Survey for Hiring Managers
