We’ve been talking a lot about candidate experience over the past month. From our webinar highlighting how employers might be scaring away their best candidates to our newest white paper with tips for improving candidate experience before, during, and after the background check—it’s clear that the experience prospective employees have with your company is vital to your ultimate success.

With your company’s reputation hanging in the balance, you don’t want to leave candidate experience to chance. You must take strategic steps to improve and sustain a positive experience for candidates—whether you decide to hire them or not. Our white paper, Improve Your Candidate Experience: 13 Tips for a Winning Background Screening Process, shares crucial steps to take before, during, and after a background check.

In the second phase, during a background check, you’re pretty sure you want to hire your candidate—which is why you ordered a background check. But it’s not just your approval that must be won. Be sure that your candidates are informed and up-to-date during the process and still want to work for you at the end of it.

4 Steps to Improve Candidate Experience During a Background Check

1. Use a reputable screening provider accredited by the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS).

It’s important to inform your candidates about who your background screening provider is. You want them to know you’re not sending their personal information to just anyone. Consider sending your screening provider’s website and other credentials to help put to rest any fears they might have about the background screening process.

2. Keep the candidate informed of the process.

One common frustration for candidates is not hearing back after an interview. Keeping them informed of the status of the background check is a good practice for a positive experience while they wait.

3. Give the candidate an expectation of the timeframe.

Will they be waiting a few days or a week for a response? Whatever the length of time, be sure to tell them when the background check results will be in and when they can expect to hear back from you.

4. Make sure you have a clear understanding of the information on the background check report.

Background reports may include legal jargon and contain references to criminal codes, sentencing information, and court rules that can vary from one jurisdiction to the next. A misunderstanding could result in a bad outcome: failing to disqualify a candidate who should be or disqualifying a candidate who should not be. A good background screening provider should be able to clarify and answer any questions about reports.

Want to learn more? Discover the steps you should take before and after a background check in our guide, Improve Your Candidate Experience: 13 Tips for a Winning Background Screening Process. Click here to download your complimentary copy: http://content.employeescreen.com/improve-your-candidate-experience-with-a-winning-screening-process