By Maya Khamala
Candidate Experience
Have you ever taken a moment to respond to or rate your experience after purchasing a product or receiving a service? This kind of feedback is highly sought after because it provides valuable consumer information and highlights a company’s strengths and weaknesses, allowing them to tailor their service offerings and boost revenue. So it should come as no surprise that the “candidate experience”, a popular term used today that refers to the overall perception of a company’s recruiting, application, and hiring process, holds an important place in the recruiting world. A candidate’s employer perception and candidate experience greatly influences not only if they will apply to open positions, but whether or not they would accept a job offer from that company.
Unfortunately, recent data shows that 46% of candidates feel their time is not valued during the interview process, with two-thirds of candidates sharing their negative experience online and 40% of candidates with a bad hiring experience turning down the resulting job offer (Convey IQ).
Successful hiring is dependent on great candidate experiences. As you apply for jobs and interview with companies, consider creating a criteria checklist so that you can weigh the pros and cons and have an active role during the entire recruitment process!
Candidate Experience Criteria Checklist
Here are a few simple but key questions that your Candidate Experience Criteria Checklist could include:
- Was the Job Description clear and accurate about the requirements, responsibilities, application instructions and deadlines?
- Was the application process straightforward and not too long? Did you receive a confirmation receipt or status update on your application?
- Was there a way for you to follow up on your application?
- Was the interviewer prepared for and focused during the interview? Did they ask relevant and appropriate questions?
- Did you learn important information about the position and company?
- Was your first impression of the company a good one or did your intuition indicate any red flags? Can they be overlooked?
- Post-interview, did you receive a follow-up via email, a phone call or in the form of a job offer or rejection?
While this is a small sampling of questions to reflect upon, it’s important to check in with yourself and determine if your overall candidate experience was one of value or left a lot to be desired. Lack of employee engagement and quick turnover rates are often traced back to a negative candidate experience. Your feedback is important, so consider leaving a review by completing a feedback survey or writing a review of your experience on a site like Glassdoor.
Recruitment is a two-way street, with today’s candidates more serious than ever about applying for positions that match their lifestyle and values. If you as a candidate demand the same level of consideration afforded to customers, chances are your candidate experience will be all the better for it!
Resources
If you need help making your job hunt successful, do not hesitate to check out our employment services and how we can help ease the process of looking for a new job. Likewise, if you have a business idea, our Entrepreneurship Program offers one on one coaching, a legal information clinic, an accounting clinic, and a conflict resolution clinic and more. Call us at 514-978-8788 to schedule a career or business consult.