A positive candidate experience can give you a clear advantage in the search for personnel. Especially in industries where employees can choose between several offers, you should make sure to stand out from the crowd and make the application process as pleasant as possible. You can find out everything that makes up a good candidate journey and how you can improve it here.
What is a candidate’s experience? Definition & Meaning
The term candidate experience summarizes all the experiences that an applicant collects from the first contact to the point at which they become loyal to the company in question. Not only the interactions with the company are decisive, but also factors such as websites and career sites.
Ein alternativer Begriff für Candidate Experience ist Candidate Journey. Journey steht in diesem Zusammenhang für Reise – ein Begriff, der den Weg von der ersten Kontaktaufnahme bis zur Bindung durchaus treffend beschreibt.
Um für begehrte Tech & IT Mitarbeiter als Arbeitgeber überhaupt interessant zu sein, muss sich ein Unternehmen heute erheblich mehr Mühe geben als früher. Dazu gehören positive Candidate Experience. Sie erfasst und bewertet die Erfahrungen des Recruiting-Prozesses aus Bewerbersicht. Von der Stellenbeschreibung auf der Website des Unternehmens über das Vorstellungsgespräch bis hin zur Einarbeitung.
Das persönliche Vorstellungsgespräch bildet dabei ein Schlüsselmoment der Erfahrung. Gemeinsam mit dem Employer Branding ist das Thema Candidate Experience in vielen HR-Abteilungen momentan im Trend. Dies sind Reaktionen auf einen Wandel der Machtverhältnisse im Arbeitsmarkt zugunsten der Arbeitnehmer. Es handelt sich um einen modernen Ansatz, weil er einen zeitgemäßen Umgang mit Kandidaten auf Augenhöhe fördert.
Das Schaffen einer positiven Candidate Experience ist kein einfacher, sondern ein langwieriger Prozess, dem Sie jedoch viel Beachtung schenken sollten, um Ihre Arbeitgebermarke zu stärken. Im Kern geht es dabei meist um Themen wie Schnelligkeit, Verlässlichkeit, Agilität und Wertschätzung.
Die 6 Phasen der Candidate Experience
The candidate experience begins the moment the applicant first becomes aware of the company in question (via the website or careers page). The better you already do here, the more beneficial it is for a positive candidate experience. In the following, we present the 6 phases from getting to know each other to bond.
#1 Attraction
This phase can already decide on the further course of the candidate’s journey. This is where the potential applicant comes into contact with your company for the first time – this can happen at a career fair, through a recruiting campaign, or through hearsay. The better the impression the job seeker gets here, the more likely it is that they will be interested in you and want to know more.
#2 Information
The next step is the first active contact with the company. The corresponding website is usually called up in order to get a first impression of the advertising company. A professionally designed career page that is easy to find and includes an interesting job advertisement on your website will ensure a positive experience.
If the rest of the website is also designed professionally and consistently, you have already done a lot right on the first few meters of the candidate journey.
#3 Application
If the candidate decides to apply, it means that he has liked what he has seen so far. So that you can continue to convince him, the application process – which is known to be quite time-consuming – should run as smoothly and pleasantly as possible.
If you manage applications using online forms, they should be easy to find and clearly laid out. Uploading documents should work without any problems and should not unnecessarily test the applicant’s patience. In addition, it doesn’t hurt if you send out a polite confirmation email as soon as applications start coming in.
#4 choice
In this phase, the first physical contact between the applicant and the company takes place. The interview, the selection process, and subsequent communication take place. The decisive factor here is how you receive the applicant and present yourself as a company.
After the applicant has already got a good impression of you, ideally in the first phases of the candidate experience, it is now a matter of confirming this impression.
#5 Onboarding
Once you’ve decided on the applicant, it’s important to continue the positive feeling you conveyed earlier. After all, it shouldn’t appear as if you just created an image to convince applicants.
Good (digital) onboarding is important. This will help your new employee to easily fit into the still unfamiliar working environment. This is how you lay the foundation for a long-term relationship: If they are greeted in a friendly manner and actively involved in what is happening, there is a higher likelihood that a new employee will feel comfortable and be interested in permanent employment.
#6 binding
Speaking of permanent employment: once the new employee has arrived at the company and has settled in well, this does not mean the end of the candidate’s experience. Because this includes the permanent efforts of the employer to keep the candidate in the company. In concrete terms, this means: In order to achieve a positive candidate journey, you should ensure permanent employer attractiveness.
A good image spreads through stories from previous applicants or current employees and can, in case of doubt, be the decisive factor in an applicant deciding for you and against a competitor.
How does a negative candidate experience manifest itself?
A negative candidate experience can permanently damage a company’s reputation. Negative experiences of a candidate are often expressed through their ratings on social media or on the company’s career page. If several such ratings come together, this can quickly create a very bad image of the company.
The downside is that bad memories and reviews are much more likely to stick than positive ones. So once the image has been cracked, it takes a lot of effort to repair the damage that has occurred. Hence the motto: do not allow a negative experience in the first place.
But what is actually rated as a negative experience by applicants?
- Confusing website or career pages & insufficiently informative job advertisements
- Agreements and promised deadlines, for example for feedback from the employer, are not kept or the candidate does not receive any feedback at al
- The candidate does not feel personally recognized and valued (e.g. through standardized emails or changing contact persons)
- a tough and lengthy application process does not indicate a great deal of interest in the candidate on the one hand and on the other hand allows the candidate to draw conclusions about the low agility of the entire company.
- Unprepared job interview
- No personal feedback after the interview or no rejection at all
A consistently negative candidate experience will sooner or later have a negative impact on the employer’s brand, the image, and ultimately the company’s results.
How do improve the candidate experience?
The most obvious effect of a successful candidate experience is the higher probability of being able to inspire new employees for your company. However, the positive effects extend far beyond the individual applicant. It has been proven, for example, that candidates tell their families, friends, and acquaintances about their experiences of an application process or rate them on relevant portals such as Kununu.
Not all aspects of the candidate’s experience are controllable. However, there are some important factors that you as an employer can influence. It is not enough to present yourself on your best side from the job market to the conclusion of the contract. Creating a positive candidate experience is a complex process. An IT recruiting process consists of individual steps and different points of contact between the candidate and the company.
In order to create a positive candidate experience, it is important to change perspective and put yourself in the candidate’s shoes. It is important to clarify which points of contact a candidate has with your company, what is important to him and where difficulties can arise.
It makes no difference whether the company implements the application process through an internal recruiting department or uses an external headhunter such as TechMinds GmbH to find the right candidate. The goals always remain the same: the lowest possible dropout rate of the application, an emotional bond with the applicant, and a positive reputation for the company.
There are a few ways you can improve your candidate experience. We give you a few tips and tricks.
▶ Design more professional job advertisements
A job advertisement should already contain all the information that could interest an applicant. The classics include the requirement profile, area of activity, remuneration, additional benefits, etc. The advertisement should be formulated clearly and understandably and leave the applicant with as few questions as possible.
▶ Optimize your website/careers page
A professionally designed website has become the most important asset for a company. The website should be clear and user-friendly not only for customers, but also for applicants. Information should not be hidden, but easily accessible – job advertisements should also be easy to find and retrieve right away. The less effort it takes to navigate your website—as well as your careers page—the more positive the candidate experience will be.
Recruitment is now done online. In this context, the first point of contact between the candidate and your company is usually your company’s website or careers page. It is therefore important to make them attractive, well-structured and informative . All important points should be presented briefly and clearly and you should give the candidate a sense of transparency.
It is highly recommended to give the applicants the opportunity at this point to get in touch with a contact person in your company should they have any questions. This builds trust between you and the applicants.
▶ Improve your communication
Communication is the be-all and end-all in the candidate experience. Give the applicant the feeling that they are not left alone on their journey, but that you have a reliable contact person throughout. This includes easy-to-find contact details as well as good accessibility, quick feedback and respectful communication at eye level.
If you decide against a candidate, it is very important to reject the candidate appropriately. You should convey to the candidate with the rejection letter that he was not just one of many applicants.
When working with a headhunter, you should reject a candidate yourself after the interview – whether by telephone or in person – and not through the headhunter. This is how you signal appreciation and strengthen your employer brand.
▶ Accelerate the application process
The quicker the applicant knows where they stand, the better for the candidate experience. Regardless of whether you decide for or against the applicant, you should not make him wait too long – this can certainly be perceived as impolite and unprofessional. The quicker you make a decision and let the applicant know, the easier it is for everyone involved.
In order to create a positive candidate experience, it is advisable that you offer the right application channels so that an application can be completed in a maximum of 15 minutes.
A lengthy application process can quickly lead to candidate frustration. Many candidates therefore appreciate the uncomplicated and quick application via a headhunter, because this often speeds up the application process.
Speed also applies in particular to the selection process. This should be a maximum of 4-6 weeks from the application to the offer , as the candidate experience usually deteriorates significantly afterwards. In the event that the selection process extends over a longer period of time, you should inform the candidate regularly.
How does good candidate experience management work?
Never leave your dealings with applicants (and employees) to chance. After all, they are the key to your company’s success. Take care of successful employer branding , create a strong brand and reputation. In doing so, you are already laying the foundation for good candidate experience management.
Make sure your website, career page and job advertisements have a high-quality design. Plan job interviews carefully and always treat applicants as equals . Show every applicant equal appreciation and respect – even if you decide against them in the end.
Positive candidate experience is worth it!
We can only emphasize that again and again. A positive candidate experience not only strengthens your employer brand externally, but can also have a major impact on internal company success. By investing in a positive candidate journey, you are also investing in your business.
Act at eye level, with respect, professionalism and appreciation – and you will undoubtedly notice the positive response.
A professional personnel consultancy improves the candidate experience
Working with a professional IT recruitment agency can have a positive impact on your candidate experience.
By supporting the candidate as a sparring partner from the initial contact through to the interview and beyond, the HR consultant feels well looked after and valued at all times. He can answer his queries quickly while you conserve your resources.
It is important to a qualified recruitment agency to give the candidate a positive experience and authentic insights into your corporate culture. Due to the tech know-how, the methodical and at the same time very personal and agile approach, specialized headhunters can optimally cooperate with internal HR departments on time-consuming recruiting projects.
Sustainable headhunters attach great importance to the candidate having a positive impression of your company, whether they accept or reject the job.
