How does candidate experience impact your business?

The experience of the people involved in your selection process matters and affects your business more than you might think!

And looking strategically at this journey as a whole can change the course of employability in your company.

Why does the candidate's experience matter?

Searching for an opportunity in the job market is stressful in itself, people on this journey usually go through enough stress on a daily basis, and with the arrival of LinkedIn, making the selection processes more friendly to the talents involved is no longer just empathy and has become a business strategy.

Ensuring a positive experience for people applying shows respect and empathy to those who have dedicated time and effort to apply for a position in your organization, but also brings other positive aspects: closer ties, retention, brand positioning, attraction, desirability of working in your company, among others.

Moreover, people who are satisfied with the experience are more likely to apply again for an open position in the future.

And how does this affect my business?

Candidates who go through a good or extraordinary experience (and those who go through a not so good one), do that word-of-mouth marketing and spread an image of your company. And let's agree that we want it to be positive, right?

Today, we all run the risk of a great exposed post on LinkedIn that can directly affect our Employer Branding, and thus, the company may have difficulties when making new hires and even increase the turnover rate.

Investing in a positive and personalized experience (with communication, feedback and transparency), also improves future aspects of these people in the company: such as cultural fit, productivity and motivation.

How can I improve the candidate experience?

You need to look at the hiring and experience of candidate people as a business strategy that will bring great benefits and results if executed in the right way.

Divide the journey into stages

This part is important to define the duration of the selection process and give at least an estimated start date, bringing security and organization to those who apply.

Show your values during the process

Organizational culture has become a key piece of information for companies and candidates during the recruitment and selection process. It is through these values that both parties first understand if this partnership makes sense or will be advantageous.

Pay attention to the contact with the candidates

Communication is the key to a successful selection process! In fact, we can say that it is the most important part when we think about the experience of the candidates, so it is essential that in addition to personalized messages, these people have access to some channel for questions and help, with the shortest possible response time so that they are not harmed.

Ask for feedback

Besides giving feedback, it is important that you also get feedback, ask the people involved what they thought of your process as a whole and even points for improvement. An NPS survey, for example, can make all the difference in future recruitments.

Have a clear communication

Don't leave gaps in the communications you make with candidates during the selection process, it is important that they have access to all the information they need to send well, and clear and transparent communication brings effectiveness and efficiency, ensuring success.

Plan what it will be like after acceptance

Those who think that the selection process ends with the acceptance of the candidate in the proposed letter are mistaken; the experience journey only ends after the onboarding, when the person is inserted in the company.

Therefore, it is important that you apply all the previous topics during the hiring process and also during onboarding. Many companies don't think about these phases and this can completely change the view and experience of the people applying.

Candidate experience has been identified as a recruiting trend for 2022 and is expected to continue into the next year, as it has proven to be a key part of the recruiting and selection universe.

And now that you have learned what the candidate experience is and how it affects your business, it is important that you review and adapt your selection processes to ensure a better experience for the candidates involved, always respecting the identity and boundaries of the organization, of course.