Roll Out the Red Carpet in Honor of Your Candidates

Roll out the jumbo queen throne onto the stage, let a violent drum roll build to a crescendo, and set a red carpet into the motion – that should roughly be the extent of your efforts towards candidate experience if you want to attract and retain high-caliber, top-talent. According to a study, high-caliber candidates are available on the market for only around ten days, which is approximately the same time many small-scale, as well as some large-scale companies, take merely to screen the candidates and then to set up an on-site interview. By the time you have done that, be assured that you have lost out on the best talent – they were not going to wait for you to fix your broken recruitment process, especially if they were the passive candidates, you had invited yourself. Remember, the hard work you did in creating your EVP and invitation for star candidates would go down the drain if you do not fix your candidate experience. So, first things first, familiarize yourself with the meaning of “candidate experience”.

Let’s Call it A Party: Candidates As the Guests, You As the Host

You might have come across scores of definitions attempting to define “Candidate Experience” as the perception about your organization which a job ‘seeker’ has after interacting with your company throughout the recruitment process. This interaction could range from communication that a candidate receives from your brand messaging, your response to the applications, candidate’s interaction with the software systems and/or employees. But in our scenario, the recruiters are the ‘seekers’ looking only for the best candidates. They are more focused on hiring passive (already employed) candidates, and therefore; should consider themselves as the host of a party which they have invited the candidate to attend. In that case, the candidate experience must be about streamlining the process from the Initial Outreach to Initial Screening, On-Site interviews, Test Drives, Offer and Acceptance, and the Onboarding Period. If the candidate feels that the candidate experience, as proposed in your EVP, is not your top priority, they would dismiss their business with you within a few minutes.?

Rolling Out the Red Carpet for Star Candidates - But Why??

The term Candidate Experience (CX) is consistently put about in recruitment jargon. Forward-thinking recruiters are constantly looking for ways to improve candidate experience with both active and passive candidates because they know it is a competitive differentiator to bring and hire quality employees into the recruitment funnel. However, before I tell you about how to formally begin rolling out the carpet from the very first encounter with your star candidate, I must tell you why exactly you need to roll it out.?

Use your best marketing tool wisely

In my experience as a headhunter for a decade, positive Candidate experience has always proved to be an outstanding marketing tool. Even if this one star player is not ultimately hired (slim chances, but yeah), think about how he can drive referrals and enhance your employer brand if his experience with you was good. Remember, star players are all feathers of the same bird. They will refer your company to the likes of themselves. But if you abuse this marketing tool, well, the consequences are not as pleasing. “If you make [candidates] unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends. If you make [candidates] unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.” Yes, Bezos my friend, you are very right here.?

Your reputation for years to come is at stake

According to research, 3,991 employees in full-time employment thought that a negative candidate experience can impact an employer’s ability to recruit long-term. That definitely is alarming. 42% of the said employees would never seek employment at the company with a negative CX again. 22% would discourage other candidates to work there and 9% would go above and beyond to tell others not to purchase services from the company. Think about the impact this reputation could have on the star candidates you want to invite to your company? To be honest, your company would be a definite no-no for them for years to come.?

A war of talent between you and your competitor

If you have sorted the Candidate Experience inside out on top of having crafted a? commendable EVP and invitation, then just sit back and chill - your star candidate is not likely to leave you. If they are the right organizational fit, positive candidate experience can win them over and build their loyalty and trust within your organization. But with a negative candidate experience associated with your company and restricted job fluidity in the U.S. (thanks or no thanks to an unhealthy, 5% unemployment rate) your star candidates would not give any heed to your EVP and stay where they are: working for your competitors.?

Focus on the Candidate and Obsessively So

Positive candidate experience does not happen by chance, or by accident - it is carefully and structurally designed for candidates who will pay you back for it by marketing for you more powerfully than you can possibly ever market yourself, by adding value to your company in every way possible or by standing on your side in the war against your competitor. This proves that catering to candidate experience is not an expense you will be making, but an investment which would have immediate as well as gradual results. Having covered the Whys and Wherefores of rolling out the red carpet for your star candidate, we will next discuss how exactly the candidate’s experience can be improved at every phase of the recruitment process.?