The impact of meeting and exceeding candidate expectations

Have you come across more candidates rejecting your job offer? According to Starred, 58% of candidates have turned down a job offer because of candidate experience. Clearly, candidate experience needs to be better, but the question is – what do candidates actually want from the recruitment process?

The phrase, candidate experience = How a candidate feels about your company once they experience the hiring process. We’re presuming most people understand the definition, but we thought it might be beneficial to better understand candidates’ expectations during the hiring process. A staggering 85% of candidates say that a positive or negative experience can change their opinion of a company, according to Starred and we’re going to give you the tools to be sure your recruitment experience is always positive!

So, what do candidates actually want?

Easy to find information

Don’t risk not showing up! LinkedIn claims that 52% of candidates like to visit a careers website and use social media to find out more. However, according to People Scout, a third of employers are not posting career-related content to their social channels.

Candidates want as much information as possible, it helps them decide whether they engage further or look elsewhere. The most prominent platform for sharing career-related content is almost certainly LinkedIn, with 61 million people searching for their next position through the platform according to the Social Shepherd. And, whilst employers can use it to promote their employer brand, so can employees. Research carried out by RedSprout states, leads generated by employees sharing their company’s content on LinkedIn converts seven times more frequently than any other kind of lead.

Why not try looking for the roles you’re recruiting for. What do you see? Your main competitor? If that’s the case, so will your candidates.

If you would like some further information on how to promote your employer brand through LinkedIn, click here.

To feel valued (and this includes feedback)

According to LinkedIn, nearly 4 in 5 candidates (78%) say the overall candidate experience they receive is an indicator of how a company values its people. So, it goes without saying that a poor candidate experience can really take effect as we know people talk, and unfortunately, it’s usually the unhappy ones!

It is also worth noting that according to Starred, 46% of candidates believe their time was disrespected during interviews. Of course, some candidates are going to be disappointed and not everyone will be hired. But the candidate experience can still end well – usually by providing helpful feedback.

Without doubt candidate feedback enhances the experience. It even increases candidates’ likelihood of applying for future roles. Research by ConveylQ found that candidates are 4 times more likely to consider your company in the future if you’ve offered constructive feedback during the interview process.

To see your inclusive culture

We can’t emphasise enough how important it is to candidates that they find evidence of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) in what they see at your organisation. It’s a hugely important part of helping them decide if they’ll fit in. According to Glassdoor, more than 3 in 4 job seekers are looking at diversity when deciding whether to accept a job offer and if a company is seen to be lacking diversity, nearly a third would not accept.

In conclusion, if you’re having a high percentage of offers turned down, it could be due to a multitude of reasons. Candidate experience, the salary and benefits you offer, company culture, and so on. One of the benefits of working with a specialist Recruiter is the fact we can give you industry insights and genuine candidate feedback.

We partner with our clients to identify any gaps in the hiring process or offers being made and will provide the feedback you need to improve your acceptance rate, saving you time and money!

Here’s some final statistics to emphasise the importance of a positive candidate experience…

• 52% of organisations that prioritises the candidate experience saw increases in revenue of 10% or more. Source: Brandon Hall Group.
• 74% of jobseekers would let others know if they had a negative experience with a company during the recruitment process. Source: Webrecruit.
• 50% of candidates will not purchase goods or services from a company after a bad job application experience. Source: StandOutCV.