Candidate Journey Map

Today, I’d like to introduce you to a topic especially close to my heart. We will be talking about a Candidate Journey Map (CJM). Get comfortable, it’s a long read!

The Candidate Journey Map trend emerged as a response to the changing recruitment landscape in the last few years. The idea of mapping out the candidate journey has gained traction in the past decade as companies started to realize the importance of providing a positive candidate experience to attract top talent.?

You are probably familiar with the concept of a Customer Journey Map, which is certainly more widespread. The term "customer journey" was first used in the 1990s. However, the modern approach to customer journey mapping, which incorporates data analysis and digital touchpoints, emerged in the early 2000s.?

A customer journey map is a visual representation of the entire customer experience, from initial contact to final interaction. It helps businesses understand their customers' needs, motivations, and behaviors at every stage of the buying process. By mapping out the customer journey, businesses can identify pain points, areas for improvement, and opportunities to enhance the customer experience.?

With a Сandidate Journey Map it’s not much different: it is a visual representation of steps and touchpoints that a job candidate goes through when applying for a job and interacting with a company's recruitment process. It typically includes various stages: awareness, consideration, application, interview, selection, and onboarding.

Similarly to customer journey mapping, our map outlines different touchpoints that a candidate may have with the company, such as interaction with the job posting, social media interactions, website visits, emails, phone calls, and in-person meetings. The map may also include information about candidate behaviors, emotions, and feedback at each stage.

And of course, with CJM employers (just like businesses with customers) can identify pain points and areas for improvement in their recruitment process, and ultimately develop strategies to enhance the candidate experience and increase the likelihood of attracting and retaining top talent.?

The idea of mapping out the candidate journey has gained traction in the past decade as companies have started to realize the importance of providing a positive candidate experience to attract top talent. The concept is based on the same principles as customer journey mapping but focuses on the candidate's experience throughout the recruitment process. By understanding the candidate journey, companies can identify areas for improvement and create a more engaging and efficient recruitment process.

While there are some obvious similarities between the two types of journey maps, their focus, goals, and touchpoints are different. Both maps can be valuable tools for improving the overall experience and outcomes for job candidates and customers, respectively.

Ok, now it’s time for a fun part. How do we create a Candidate Journey Map? Step by step.

Step #1: Define the stages. Identify the key stages a candidate goes through during recruitment and hiring. Defining the stages in a Candidate Journey Map involves understanding typical steps a candidate goes through when applying for a job and interacting with a company during recruitment. While the specific stages may vary depending on the company and a position, here are the most common stages you might come across while creating a CJM:

• Awareness: At this stage, the candidate becomes aware of the company and the job opportunity, typically through job postings, social media, or referrals.
• Consideration: The candidate begins to research the company and the job opportunity in more detail, looking for information on the company's culture, values, and reputation.
• Application: The candidate submits an application, typically through the company's website or a job board, and begins the formal recruitment process.
• Screening: The candidate is screened by the company, either through an automated system or by an actual recruiter, to determine if they meet basic qualifications for the job.
• Interview: The candidate is invited for an interview, either in person or remotely, to discuss their qualifications and suitability for the job.
• Selection: The company selects the candidate who best meets their needs and makes an offer of employment.
• Onboarding: The candidate accepts the offer and begins joining the company, which may involve orientation, training, and integration into the company culture.

Tip: You could start with the stages mentioned above and then improve and detail them as you go, based on candidate feedback or focus groups. Based on my experience, for the first iteration, this list of stages could be enough.?

Step #2:? Add candidates’ goals at each stage. Understanding the candidate's goals involves putting yourself in the candidate's shoes and understanding what they are hoping to achieve or accomplish at each stage.?

• Imagine you are a candidate for the role and think about what you would hope to achieve or accomplish at each stage of the recruitment process. For example, at the awareness stage, your goal might be to learn more about the company and the job opportunity. At the application stage, your goal might be to submit a strong application that highlights your qualifications and experience.
• Talk to past and current candidates and gather feedback on their goals at each stage of the recruitment process. This can be done through surveys, interviews, or focus groups.

Tip: Here, we are talking about the candidate’s plan, not the company’s goals. Sometimes they can sound similar but will be very different in the long run. For example: Not getting YOUR COMPANY’s offer, but getting an offer with BEST conditions.

Step #3: Map the touchpoints. Identify various touchpoints that a candidate might have with your company at each stage. These touchpoints could include job postings, career fairs, social media interactions, emails, phone calls, interviews, and onboarding sessions.

Tip: There could be two ways of collecting this data: your company database and direct candidate feedback. But even if you don’t intend to launch a big survey with candidates or newcomers, try not to rely on the company data only. Organize a small focus group and ask questions, such as: where did you hear about us? Which source of information do you find most trustworthy?

Step #4: Identify pain points. Analyze the data and feedback to identify pain points or areas of friction in the candidate's journey. These could include lengthy application processes, lack of communication or feedback, or unclear job requirements. Here it would be most helpful if you had detailed feedback from candidates. While at the previous stage you could base only on your project team's assumptions, here it is time to collect only pains from real candidates.

Tip: I recommend conducting candidate surveys and focus groups with newcomers. Both can be extremely helpful as a source of information for this stage.?

Step #5: Develop solutions to address the pain points identified in the previous step. These solutions could include simplifying the application process, providing more frequent communication and feedback, or improving the candidate experience during the interview process. It is the most creative part. Please don’t limit your ideas. The more suggestions – the better. As the second step, you will evaluate all of them and choose only the best, but I recommend following standard ‘brainstorming without limits’ practice in the initial discussion.?

Step #6: Implement and measure. Implement the solutions and track their effectiveness over time. Use metrics such as time-to-fill, candidate satisfaction, and retention to measure the impact of your efforts.

It might have become apparent to you after *so many words* that creating a Candidate Journey Map requires deep understanding of the candidate experience and a willingness to continuously improve and optimize the recruitment and hiring process. But, in return, it gives you significant experience and improvements of some internal workflows. CJM is a valuable tool for building a positive employer brand and improving recruitment targets.?

P.S. In this article I haven’t mentioned such an essential step as a candidate profile creation. Ideally, it needs to precede your candidate journey mapping. Why is it important? Each company needs to know their target audience and focus exactly on this group of candidates. My colleague, Head of HR Brand Yana Romanova might elaborate on this topic some time in the future.?

#recruitment #HR #candidates