How to create a positive candidate experience during the hiring process

First impressions matter, which greatly applies to recruitment. For candidates, it can result in landing their dream job, and recruiters can hire the ideal candidate for the role.

Since recruiters and hiring managers oversee the recruitment journey, they need to ensure candidates are on the same page with their potential employers from the start. From the language used in the job description to the final interview, recruiters can optimise the hiring process in many ways.

A great hiring process should reflect the employer value proposition and excite the candidate about the prospect of working for the employer. At the same time, it should consider the candidate experience. A positive candidate experience increases attraction and engagement of candidates throughout the hiring process.

This article outlines the ideal hiring process using the insights we gathered from Totaljobs’ internal database. We surveyed 2,057 people over the age of 18 and residing in the UK, including unemployed, full-time, and part-time employed jobseekers.

Key findings from the survey

• Receiving confirmation upon applying: Almost 2 in 5 (37.2%) jobseekers expect a confirmation after submitting a job application.
• Communication during the hiring process: 3 in 5 (63.7%) jobseekers want to be contacted via email by recruiters, while more than a quarter (27.3%) would welcome a phone call, and only 7.7% are okay with being texted.
• Conducting the interview: People more commonly prefer a fully face to face interview process (36.4%), but similarly fully virtual/remote (26.7%) or a mix of remote and in-person stages (33.8%) are popular choices. Almost half (43.2%) of 55 to 64 year olds said they prefer to interview face to face.
• Candidate expectations: Almost 9 in 10 (85.9%) applicants expect to be screened for an interview within a week of submitting their application. 8 in 10 (80.5%) expect to be interviewed within a week when shortlisted, and the majority (79.7%) want to be notified if they have got the job within a week of interviewing.
• Declining an offer: Although more than half (62.7%) of respondents would not turn down an attractive offer if they had a negative experience during the hiring process, demographics of those more likely to decline offers suggest that recruiters could be losing on their target candidates. For example, the younger generation – or entry-level talent – is more likely to decline an offer due to a negative experience.

In addition to younger people; those living in Greater London, those with Doctorates, in full-time employment or in higher income brackets are also more likely to decline a job offer due to a negative experience.

Interestingly, the type of industry also makes a difference regarding accepting or declining an attractive offer due to the hiring process. Those in marketing, business management, cleaning, arts and entertainment are more likely to decline an offer due to a negative candidate experience (33.3%, 28%, 25.6%, and 25% respectively).

Differences between a negative and a positive candidate experience

By far, the most important thing for jobseekers is dealing with a competent and responsive recruiter or hiring manager. Almost half (46.8%) of the respondents think it’s the cornerstone of a positive candidate experience.

That’s why, it’s important to train hiring managers and recruiters on managing candidate expectations, managing the hiring process in a timely manner and retaining good communication with the candidates.

Jobseekers also expect transparency regarding the role (41.2%), feedback after a selection step (30.8%), an attentive recruiter or hiring manager who is interested in them (27.9%), a timely decision process where candidates get notified about the final decision within one week (21.7%), not having to fill lengthy forms (19.8%), and a timely interview process with maximum two stages (19.2%).

When asked about what caused a negative candidate experience, respondents said; receiving no feedback after a selection step (39.1%), an unresponsive recruiter/hiring manager (36.6%), disinterested recruiter/hiring manager (28.3%) were the top causes.

Giving interview feedback is a great way to make sure candidates apply again in the future for more suitable roles. It protects the employer brand and ensures an active talent pool gets maintained.

Timeliness was another big part of respondents’ idea of a negative recruitment experience. Jobseekers found that; filling out lengthy forms (24.9%), too much time in between applying and getting notified about shortlisting (24.8%), too much time in between being interviewed and being notified of whether you got the job (22.7%), interview process being untimely (i.e., too many rounds of interviewing or interview(s) exceeding the time limit (21.8%) decreased their chances of accepting an otherwise attractive offer.

Tips for creating a positive candidate experience

• Maintain good communication with candidates

Validating an application is the first step to build a positive candidate experience. So, make sure to use an ATS that automatically sends candidates based on their suitability. Email was generally the chosen method of communication by jobseekers. Candidates who pass through the screening process want to be notified by either an email or a phone call. Equally, providing feedback to candidates can still ensure a positive experience even when the candidate doesn’t make it to the next stage.

• Humanise the recruitment process

Many candidates still prefer to be interviewed face to face, so it’s important to try and incorporate this into the recruitment process. Using a mix of video interviews and face to face interviews increase your chances to retain talent in the hiring process. Candidates also expect honesty and transparency about the role, and an approach that doesn’t oversell the job. So, a competent and responsive hiring manager is highly favoured by candidates.

• Put emphasis on speeding up the hiring process

According to our latest hiring trends index, lengthy hiring time is a concern for employers. This study shows that jobseekers agree. Candidates prefer a process that is quick and timely, where they hear back from the recruiter or hiring manager within a week at the latest. Taking too long to go back to the candidates with a decision may result in them dropping out of the hiring process altogether. Candidates also prefer an interview process with less interview rounds that do not go over the expected end time.