How to enhance the candidate experience?

Whatever the size of your company or the sector in which you operate, it is important to consider the candidate experience in your recruitment process. Improving the user experience is essential to attracting new employees. This requires you to communicate effectively with your targets throughout the recruitment process. In addition to attracting new talent, the candidate experience helps you stand out from the competition. Here are our tips for optimizing the candidate experience:

What is the candidate experience? 

The candidate experience includes all the stages and interactions that candidates face in direct relation to the company they wish to apply for. In addition, the candidate experience considers the feelings, emotions and interactions of candidates at every stage of the recruitment process. Taking care of the candidate experience means having control over how candidates perceive your company. The candidate experience begins with the first contact between a candidate and the job opening, and continues through the next stages of the recruitment process:

- Facilitating the gathering of information about the company (vacancies, career page, employer brand, etc.)
- Facilitate contact
- Announce the various stages of the recruitment process
- Exchanging cordial and positive information during the interview
- Provide constructive feedback (positive or negative)

During all these stages, take care to ensure that you offer your candidates the best possible experience, and put yourself in their shoes to understand and meet their expectations. Before being hired, candidates go through numerous stages that require time and preparation. It is important to take into account and recognize the efforts made by candidates to see them through to the end of the application process.

Finally, the candidate experience continues once the employment contract has been signed. You also need to ensure that your recruit is properly integrated into your company. The candidate experience helps you stand out from other companies and attract new candidates. It also conveys a positive image of your company. 

How to optimize the candidate experience? 

• Optimize your recruitment process

Make sure you simplify every stage of your recruitment process as much as possible. Make it easy to access information and make contact to attract talent to apply for your vacancies. Optimizing your recruitment process is the key to getting candidates to apply and get the job done

• Optimize your ads

When writing your job ads, remember to optimize them too. Respond to candidates’ expectations: before applying, they are looking for information that is essential to their decision. Be clear and concise about the tasks the candidate will have to carry out, the benefits on offer, the company’s values and the remuneration. Secondly, pay particular attention to the titles of your adverts and your choice of keywords, to ensure that your offers are well referenced on dedicated platforms and search engines. 

• Communicate effectively

To enhance your candidate experience, you need to communicate clearly and concisely with them. Moreover, when you initiate a conversation with a candidate, it is imperative that you are able to spell out the steps they will have to go through. Do not wait for candidates to apply for one of your vacancies before giving them information. Tell them about the advantages of working for your company, and highlight the company’s values on your various communication channels (adverts, career page, website, social networks, etc.). A candidate who applies for a job is a candidate who is interested in your company. However, this do not mean that they have bought into the way the company operates: it is important to communicate with them carefully throughout the recruitment process. Be transparent, answering questions clearly and precisely. 

• Welcoming your candidates 

The candidates you interview have spent time researching the company, writing their resume and cover letters, and preparing for their interviews. It is essential that you familiarize yourself with the documents provided by candidates outlining their backgrounds before interviewing them. This not only gives you a better idea to receive, but also enables you to conduct the interview efficiently and bounce back appropriately. You also need to ensure that you receive your candidates in an environment that is conducive to conducting a job interview, in this case a professional environment. In the case of an online interview, make sure that the connection and the environment on the company side are conducive to a job interview. We know that the candidate experience is based on the emotions and feelings of the candidates, so be cordial and welcoming in your exchanges and meetings with your candidates.

• Don't overlook unsuccessful candidates 

Following a job interview, many companies do not follow up on an application. Don't wait for your candidates to get back to you before giving your verdict: the candidate experience also involves explaining your choices. 

• Make sure your new recruits are properly integrated

When your new recruits arrive, make sure your teams are aware of their imminent arrival, so that they can best prepare for their integration into the company.  What's more, anticipate and identify the future needs of your new employees, so that they are as comfortable as possible when they take up their new posts. Provide documentation on the company, such as a welcome booklet, and make sure that your new employees' workstations are ready on the day they start work.  The candidate experience continues when your employees arrive, so be sure to include them in discussions and always remain cordial and benevolent towards them.

Employer brand 

Employer branding is an essential means of communication for attracting new talent. During their search, candidates ask about your company's culture to find out if it matches their values.

Many candidates express and share their feelings on professional social networks following a bad candidate experience. Reviews and comments posted about companies are frequently consulted during candidate searches, and strongly influence their interest in your company. You need to be constantly vigilant in providing a quality candidate experience to avoid comments that could negatively impact your employer brand. Negative reviews could jeopardize all your efforts to build your employer brand. After all, it is hard to trust a company that reports positive facts when candidates feel otherwise.

To attract new talent and differentiate yourself from the competition, it is important to integrate the candidate experience into your communication and HR strategies. The candidate experience begins when a talent meets the company and continues right through to their integration into the organization. To optimize the candidate experience, it is important to communicate effectively across all your communications channels, and to meet candidates' expectations. It is important to make the various stages of the recruitment process as easy and efficient as possible, by communicating clearly and concisely. Reflecting a positive image helps to control your company's reputation and avoid the spread of negative comments and opinions. Communicating your company's culture enables candidates to see themselves at the heart of your organization.

Fed Finance is a recruitment firm specializing in finance, accounting and payroll. Based in Geneva, our recruitment consultants cover the entire Lake Geneva region and assist companies of all sizes in their temporary and permanent recruitment processes. If you are looking for a new member of staff for your finance department, do not hesitate to contact Fed Finance now, and one of our consultants will get back to you as soon as possible to discuss your requirements.