Candidate Experience

Have you ever wondered how our candidates experience their interactions with us? How do we compare? We think we provide them with a WOW experience but do we really? In general (not clinical specific), 49% of job applicants decline a job offer due to poor candidate experience. As we all know, a job search can be one of the most stressful things in life.

How does our job seeker feel about our organization as a potential employer, based on the series of interactions they’ve had with us throughout the entire recruitment process? There are a lot of touchpoints during the Talent Lifecycle; from job boards, conferences, sourcers, recruiters, coordinators, hiring managers, credentialing, onboarding and training.

It might be a good idea to review your recruitment process from beginning to end and to find out if it is to your and your organization’s expectations and if there are any gaps that need addressing. Measuring candidate experience can be tricky, however you can learn a lot through surveys, application abandonment rates, decline reasons and referral rates.

Some best practice tips include:

·         Setting expectations up front, being honest and transparent on what to expect.

·         Prioritize communication, stay connected and never “ghost” your candidate.

·         Include the family.

·         Implement a candidate feedback survey.

A poor candidate experience can cost us Top Talent and might harm your organization’s reputation as poor reviews might dissuade other candidates from considering your organization.

A better candidate experience will lead to better outcomes. We all want to hire and retain top talent, losing someone because of a poor candidate experience would be a real miss in today’s recruitment climate.