Nowadays, candidates have so much information available to them that improving candidate experience has never been more important.

Needless to say, delivering a positive candidate experience is crucial in attracting top quality candidates. A failure to create a great experience could prevent candidates from applying for any of your future vacancies and can result in bad perceptions of your employer brand.

We recommend following these three ways to ensure that you’re providing an exceptional experience for your candidates:

A Simple and Mobile-Optimised Application Process

This is where the candidate experience begins. It’s important to make the application as smooth as possible for the candidates to get the most out of their time.

A short and simple application structure will go down a treat. A process that is long winded and requires the candidates to enter the same data repeatedly can cause frustration and even result in them abandoning their application.

Simplicity is the key. Ensure that all instructions and job descriptions are clear and concise. Also check that the process is easily completed on mobile devices. After all, there’s an increase in candidates who apply for roles while they’re on the go.

Communication With Candidates 

Communication should be an important focus of your recruitment. It is essential to keep all candidates updated on their progress throughout the recruitment process.

Often candidates are left in the dark regarding their applications and never hear back from the company. Candidates are applying to the role for a reason and they need to know where they stand in the hiring process.

To combat disappointment, keep in touch with the candidates regularly through the likes of emails. This could include a confirmation email about receiving their application or an acknowledgement that their application is being processed. This is a fantastic way to improve the candidates experience as it shows that you care about them.

Although this may sound time consuming, an applicant tracking system such as “Fusion” can help you. Fusion was developed by Webrecruit Ireland and one of its functions will allow automated emails to be sent out at various stages of the process and keeps the candidates informed.

Monitor Your Candidate Experience Offering 

A way to vastly improve the candidate experience is to get feedback directly from the candidates themselves.

This could can be obtained through a survey or informally asking the candidates about their experience during the interview process. This is a unique way to gain some really valuable information about what the applicants are really thinking and can help to refine the application process in the future.

The feedback that is gathered will allow steps to be taken to improve the issues that people are having. The hiring process can then be optimised while showcasing to the candidates that you value their opinions.

We wish you the best in ensuring a positive candidate experience. Should you ever require additional support or guidance on improving your candidate experience, Webrecruit Ireland would always welcome an opportunity to speak to you to find out and discuss what methods would work best for you!