Rapid advancement of technology has helped employers in sourcing and hiring the best talents from around the globe. Yet, despite being tech-savvy in recruitment, many leaders believe that it is critical to create a positive candidate experience and to find the best person for the job. 

A comprehensive report from Talent Broad on CandEs revealed that candidates who believe they have had a negative experience would likely take their alliance, product purchases, and business relationship somewhere else. It means a potential loss of revenue for consumer’s based businesses, referral networks for all companies, and whether or not future-fit and silver-medalist candidates apply again. 

See also: How can Employers Avoid the Cost of a Bad Candidate Experience?

The good news is, however, candidates who had a great experience say they’ll definitely increase their relationship with the employer, even when they don’t get the job. That means they will apply again, refer to others, and make purchases and/or influence purchases when applicable. These aren’t just the job finalists of those hired but the majority are individuals who research and apply for jobs and who aren’t hired. 

Candidate experience and employer branding are by far the top recruiting initiatives employers plan to focus on in 2019. A company’s overall candidate experience, Kevin Grossman said to the report, has a definitive potential impact on the business. This impact is definitely improving incrementally from talent attraction to onboarding and retention. 

What candidates say when they have “negative” experience 

That being said, providing a good recruitment experience should be leaders’ concern. To understand and build a better experience, it is essential to understand what candidates are thinking when they say they have “bad” experience. 

Korn Ferry in a press release stated that talents consider having negative recruitment experience because recruiter often ghosts them in their application. 53 percent of candidates said that the top way communications break between them and employers is when recruiter “ghosts” them by not calling them back or letting them know where they stand in the hiring process. 

Besides being “ghosted”, many candidates explained to CandEs researchers that they had overall poor 1-star experience because their time was disrespected during interviews and appointments, poor rapport with recruiting professionals, and the recruiting process just too long. 

Building better candidate experience

Recruiters can now think of a better way to re-create or re-build their recruitment strategy in order to provide a better hiring experience for their candidates. To sum up, here is what recruiters need to do for the next recruitment process. 

• Make sure you are hiring for the real needs in your organisation
• Write a clear job description along with its  qualification and requirements 
• Make it easy for candidates to apply for your jobs. Provide a call-to-action button whenever possible. 
• Follow-up early and often to make sure the candidates are not feeling ghosted 
• Communicate with and/or thank candidates during each step. When the candidates do not give further information on his/her application, do follow up with a thank-you note and left the rest to the candidate’s choice 
• Give candidates information they need and expect at an in-person interview
• Give candidates your full attention at interviews 
• Tell candidates as soon as possible if you are no longer considering them for the job. It will be better if you give a job reference for their next search. If not – inform them that you will consider them for future openings. 
• Be open to giving and receiving feedback 

Read also: ‘Human Touch’ Remains Essential to Candidate Experience: Study