The best employers have candidate experience at the heart of their recruitment process and if you get it right, then it can be a powerful mechanism to ensure you secure top talent for your business. Get it wrong and it can have damaging consequences to the perception of your business within the marketplace and prolong your time to hire. Here are some tips on how to improve your candidate journey.
Speed
Don’t underestimate the need for speed. It demonstrates a business’ ability to make quick decisions and can show an early commitment to the best candidates. Consider the time taken to feedback on CV’s for an interview; the quicker you can feedback then the more chance you have of being at the front of the queue with those candidates securing multiple interviews. Also, avoid delay between first and second interviews. The more time taken to arrange a 2nd interview increases the likelihood of a candidate exploring other opportunities and potentially losing engagement from your process.
Interview Etiquette
Get the basics right and remember an interview is a 2-way thing. First impressions are everything and it sets the scene for the interview. Don’t keep the candidate waiting by turning up late to an interview you’ve booked in. After all, how would you feel if a candidate was late? Make the interview personal, get to know the individual behind the CV not just what they can do.
Prepare for the Interview
How would you feel if a candidate was underprepared for the interview? The feeling will be the same for the candidate if they feel you’ve not prepared too. If you are using an agency to support with CV sourcing, ensure they have given you an overview for the candidate’s motivations, situation or circumstances. The interview will become more personable as a result and ensures you focus on what you want to get out of the interview too.
Offer Management
It’s often overlooked but your offer management process is a key part of the candidate experience. You’ve just made a candidate’s day by offering them their dream job so don’t then drag things out. Get the formal paperwork out ASAP both electronically and hard copies. An offer becomes more real for a candidate once they have something in writing and an efficient offer management process demonstrates your commitment to the candidate.
Keep in touch!
3 Month notice periods are becoming more and more common making this step vital. Once your candidate has accepted and given notice then keep in touch with them. Make them feel like a member of the team before they join the business. We often hear candidates comment on how it’s nice to feel part of the business long before they join. This typically stems from continued contact after the offer management process. Give your new team member a call, meet for coffee, make the process more personal!