How can you improve your candidate experience with internet recruiting metrics?

1 Why candidate experience matters

Candidate experience is not only a matter of courtesy and professionalism, but also a strategic advantage in a competitive talent market. A positive candidate experience can increase your chances of hiring the best talent, reduce your cost per hire, and enhance your employer reputation. On the other hand, a negative candidate experience can damage your brand image, increase your turnover rate, and discourage referrals and future applications. Therefore, it is important to monitor and improve your candidate experience with internet recruiting metrics.

2 What internet recruiting metrics to track

There are many internet recruiting metrics that you can use to assess and improve your candidate experience, such as career site traffic, application rate, time to apply, source of hire, and candidate satisfaction. For instance, career site traffic can show how many visitors your career site attracts and how well it showcases your employer brand and value proposition. Similarly, application rate can show how many visitors complete and submit an application and how user-friendly and accessible your application process is. Additionally, time to apply will indicate how long it takes for a visitor to complete an application and how streamlined and efficient your application process is. Moreover, source of hire will demonstrate where your hires come from and how effective your online sourcing channels are. Finally, candidate satisfaction will reveal how satisfied your candidates are with your hiring process and how well you communicate and engage with them.

3 How to collect internet recruiting metrics

Different methods and tools can be used to collect internet recruiting metrics, depending on the needs and resources available. Web analytics tools such as Google Analytics can be utilized to track career site traffic, application rate, time to apply, and source of hire. Additionally, goals and conversions can be set up to measure the performance of the online hiring funnel. An Applicant Tracking System (ATS), like Workable, is useful for managing applications, source of hire, and communication with candidates, as well as generating reports and dashboards to analyze hiring data and trends. Candidate surveys through SurveyMonkey can be used to collect feedback from candidates at different stages of the hiring process. Such surveys can include questions about satisfaction, expectations, preferences, and suggestions.

4 How to analyze internet recruiting metrics

Once you have collected your internet recruiting metrics, you need to analyze them to identify your strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and gaps and areas for improvement. To do this, you should benchmark your metrics with industry standards, competitors, or previous results. You should also segment them by job type, location, level, or channel to identify variations. Additionally, you should look for relationships and patterns between your metrics to gain further insights. Finally, draw conclusions from your metrics to understand what works and what doesn't in terms of motivating your candidates.

5 How to improve internet recruiting metrics

Based on your analysis, you can use your internet recruiting metrics to improve your candidate experience and online hiring process. Optimizing your career site is important, as it should be attractive, informative, and easy to navigate. Highlight your employer brand, culture, and values, as well as employee stories, benefits, and opportunities. Additionally, simplifying your application process is essential. Reduce the number of fields, steps, and clicks and provide clear instructions and expectations. Allow candidates to upload their resumes or use their social media profiles. Moreover, you should communicate with your candidates regularly, promptly, and personally. Acknowledge their applications and inform them of the next steps. Provide feedback and updates on their status. Finally, thank them for their interest and time.