How To Boost Candidate Experience During An Interview Process

The interview process is a two-way street. Employers want the right talent to participate in the interview process while the candidates want a positive candidate experience to help them decide if that company is the right place for them. And a good candidate experience is more likely to tempt the candidate to accept the job offer. 

In fact, an applicant is 38% more likely to accept an employment offer from an organization if they receive a positive candidate experience. Thus, the idea is to make a lasting impression on the candidate during the interview process. How you conduct the interview will impact the candidate’s decision to work for your organization. Let’s find out how to improve the candidate’s experience during the interview process.

Be transparent about the role, duties, and expectations

Candidates, especially Gen Z and Millenials, admire transparency from companies. There are some instances when interviewers don’t clearly describe or are not transparent about the position, responsibilities, and expectations. 

Subsequently, when the candidate joins as a new hire, they find the commitments of the job role as entirely unexpected and burdensome. And unfortunately, they are not able to achieve the company’s expectations. They feel anxious and overwhelmed. 

It will cost the company– productivity, and efficiency and a bad review on glassdoor or similar platforms. In 2022, a top candidate’s decision to work for a company can be greatly influenced by current and former employees’ reviews posted on numerous platforms. Therefore, being transparent about the role, duties, and expectations from the beginning will help the candidate decide whether to go for the role. 

Explain the Interview Process Clearly

Interviews can be long or short, based on how a company would like to test out the candidate for their position– but conducting an ambiguous interview will result in a negative candidate experience. One of the ways to improve the candidate experience is having a clear interview process and communicating the same with the candidates. 

The interview process may take two days or several weeks and may include one or more of the following:

Phone interview: This is usually the first step in the hiring process. It allows both parties to discuss details about the job and determine if there is a mutual fit.

Face-to-face interview: This type of interview allows both parties to get a better feel for each other before making any decisions. It also allows you to assess whether this is the right candidate for you.

The benchmarks used to decide whether an applicant is suitable will vary between organizations and their job positions. It’s important that the employers keep candidates notified about various rounds and assessments involved, how long the procedure will take, when they can expect a response, etc. 

Respect the Candidate’s Time and Have Flexible Scheduling Options

Job seekers are usually quite busy, they are constantly on the hunt for the ideal job opportunity, but you don’t want to miss out on talent because of scheduling issues.

 If a candidate cannot attend an interview at the scheduled time, rescheduling is the ideal option and accommodates the candidate’s busy schedule into the calendar.

Before conducting the interview, provide information about the interview process early in the recruiting process.  This will help the candidates clarify any clashes with their schedule or tweak their schedule, and prepare for the interview accordingly.

On the day of the interview, send out an email confirming their status about their availability. In case, if you are interviewing a candidate located in a different time zone, ensure that the interview time is convenient for interviewer and interviewee. This way both parties don’t lose time. These are just a few small steps toward creating a positive candidate experience.

Maintain Open Communication During the Hiring Process

Candidates strongly desire communication throughout the recruitment process. 81% of candidates would prefer employers to regularly update them about their progress.

 Keeping the candidate informed about what is the skeleton of the process (meaning: dates, scheduled meetings, and follow-ups).

A frequent source of frustration for candidates is when they don’t know what’s going on in the hiring process. Ensure to catch up with the candidate on time. Openly communicate about the candidate’s progress. This helps in building trust and confidence, which will positively influence the company.

 Use an ATS & a candidate engagement solution

 Candidate engagement is often used in conjunction with an ATS (Application tracking system). ATS systems allow you to use a single platform to manage job postings, applications, candidate data, and applicant communications. Hence investing in the right ATS will bring you the right candidates.

Think about the essential features when picking out an ATS that is more important to your organization. To handle the hiring process for the occasional new hire, for instance, some firms are looking for extremely basic tracking options. Other companies require an ATS to reduce the time and costs associated with high-volume hiring. Along with the important features, consider the price, potential future costs as your business expands, accessible integrations, client feedback, and customer support.

Employers must go above and beyond to draw in and keep candidates. The perception of your firm can be significantly impacted by where, when, how, and what you communicate with the candidates. Therefore candidate engagement matters.

Candidate engagement includes sending out quality rejections, outlining the product, teams, and goals, as well as posting jobs with precise job descriptions. 

Measure the following factors to track and improve candidate engagement:

-Average candidate time spent at each stage of the hiring process 

-Applicant completion rate

– Percentage of applicants who do not respond to or do not read emails or texts from recruiters

-The number of applicants who later reapply

Assign a SPOC

A SPOC (single point of contact) is a person who can answer questions and concerns a candidate might have during the hiring process. The purpose of establishing a SPOC  is to help enhance the candidate experience by giving candidates access to information at every stage of the hiring process. It becomes easier for candidates when they know who to reach out to and understand the status of their candidature, thereby improving candidate engagement.

With a generous amount of candidate inquiries, a SPOC maintains steady coordination and communication. Not only your candidates gain a tangible advantage by employing a SPOC in your organization, but the organization will reap benefits from it too. Working with a SPOC ensures no information is lost and saves time and effectiveness. And therefore, establishes trust and a strong relationship.

Coach the Hiring Team and Interviewers

In most cases, the hiring team and Interviewers are responsible for making sure that they get the right person for the job. But it’s not easy to guarantee that the hired candidate will be a success.

Interviewers frequently lack training in how to close interviews, use their talents, or create a favorable impression of candidates. In order to further expand interviewers’ skill sets, top executives and companies need to create programs and courses.

After providing appropriate training, measure the results of successful candidates brought into the company. This way, if there are any inconsistencies in how interviews are conducted, or how many of the best talents are hired and retained. You can address common problems. Make sure that everyone on your team comprehends these expectations and that they can consistently provide feedback throughout the hiring process. 

Give Feedback and Take Feedback

The impact of feedback is always strong. Giving feedback and taking feedback from candidates are mutually beneficial. 

When it comes to offering feedback, there are two schools of thought: positive reinforcement and constructive criticism.  Both have their merits, but when you’re interviewing for a new role, we recommend a combination of both types of feedback.

If you know you can provide positive reinforcement, then do so. It builds confidence in your candidate and shows that they have the potential for great things. But if there are areas where improvement is needed, sugarcoating it doesn’t help— be honest about what needs improvement and how your candidate can improve on those areas.

Taking feedback, on the other hand, is gathering insights that can help the company understand how the interviewer was conducting the interview. Were they professional and approachable? How was the candidate’s experience? How was the communication with the candidate at every stage of the process? Collect this information through the help of online candidate surveys and in-depth feedback calls to take up positive actionable steps.

To understand how to create a great candidate experience, companies need to understand the candidate’s needs and expectations which must align with the company’s expectations. Candidates want to work in an open, transparent environment where they thrive and grow. Companies should bear this in mind that every step matters in the hiring process.

AI is already augmenting recruiting at leading companies across a range of industries. As a  leader, it will enable you to focus your time on the people aspects of recruitment, which are by far the most valuable. Connect with us to discover what AI can do for you and your business. Set up a consultation with our team here.