With 5.8 million job openings on the market, competition for talent is fierce. Candidates can be selective, and they evaluate your company as if it were a house or a car—they consider their experience through the hiring process to be a “test drive.”
Let’s take a look at your hiring process to see where you might be losing quality candidates.
What’s the first impression?
Job seekers use about 18 different sources when searching for a job. If they’re not already familiar with your brand, then they’re probably “meeting” you online, most likely on social media or a career site. What are these interactions like, and what do they say about you as a company?
When do candidates hear back?
52% of employers say they respond to less than half of their candidates. Managing recruiter time and the sheer number of applicants will always be a challenge, but you’ll boost your employment brand (and your consumer brand) when you make more of an effort to reach out.
Where do most candidates drop off?
You might know what your average drop-off rate is, but do you know where most drop off occurs? Halfway through the application? After the interview? Some drop off is normal, but dig into areas where drop off is high to see if there’s a usability problem.
Is the process optimized for mobile?
86% of candidates use their smartphone to begin a job search, but only 18% of employers have mobile-optimized job posts, according to talent expert Tim Sackett. This shows that candidates want a mobile experience, but most employers are missing the mark.
How long is the process start to finish?
58% of employers say they don’t communicate how long the application or interview process will take. Shorter is not always better—you don’t want to miss out on opportunities to collect insight—but it’s important to set clear expectations for candidates.
When it comes to candidate experience, you’re probably not skimping on purpose. Most of these mistakes happen under the radar, and it’s not until you put yourself in the candidate’s shoes that you find out what your process is really like. But when you know where the pitfalls are, you can start making a concentrated effort to improve—and that will have big impact on the quality of talent coming into your organization.
For more answers to common candidate experience questions, schedule a call with one of our recruiting and talent strategy experts.
