Why Candidate Experience (Still) Matters?

How can you up your sourcing game to make sure you get the best talent before your competitors do?

Applying for a job is often a tedious endeavor. Think back to your most recent job application. You likely faced pages upon pages of forms to fill out, documents to upload, and multiple lengthy legal agreements for which you had to submit your e-signature. The process is made even more maddening when it takes days, weeks, or even months to get a response from the hiring manager.
 

Candidates looking for hourly jobs can apply to dozens of jobs per day. If required to partake in a complicated or clunky application process that does not align with their preferences and lifestyles, they will simply drop out and go elsewhere.

One of employers’ top priorities when hiring for hourly jobs is to get new hires on staff as quickly as possible, but in order to get dependable workers, the kind of quality hire more likely to stick around for the long haul, something about the hiring process needs to shift.

So what is the key to making your job application one that applicants want to complete? What makes your job listing and organization stand out from the rest? How can you up your sourcing game to make sure you get the best talent before your competitors do?

Keep reading to learn how a top-notch candidate experience can help answer these questions and more.

Go Where the Candidates Are

In an on-demand world, we are constantly on our mobile devices - ordering food, watching videos, or keeping in touch with friends and family. In this reality, the candidate is a consumer, and if you want them to actually apply to that job you are posting, it is important to meet your candidates where they are by making your application process as mobile-friendly as possible.

By allowing applicants to apply from anywhere via mobile, either through texting (SMS) or through messaging services like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, you are making it easier for your ideal talent to find you, and vice versa.

Roll Out the Automation Red Carpet

Instead of asking applicants to read and complete long-winded forms and click through dozens of stages, let automation move your candidates through the funnel for you. Based on responses to specific questions, candidates can be routed to the appropriate next stage, like a scheduling tool that allows them to set up a video interview.

Automation also can be applied to document collection. For highly skilled jobs that require professional training, candidates can upload their licenses or certifications, as well as identification directly to an automation-enabled ATS. Add an automatic background check and candidates will have been pre-screened before they even reach your inbox.

Personalize Your Process

Applicants apply to countless jobs, and they are usually met with a generic “thank you” message at the end of the process, left unsure of where they fall in the litany of applications.

Take stock of your current hiring process and identify any parts where candidates may feel like they are talking to a computer. Consider how you can use these gaps as opportunities to engage with candidates rather than overwhelm them with job duties or company details, and find as many touch points for interpersonal interaction as possible.

Build for Tomorrow, Today

In the fast-paced world of high-volume hiring, TA teams need to be creative, personable, and memorable in order to attract (and keep) the right people. But this creativity should not stop once workers are hired.

The application process is the first experience an employee will have with your brand, and this sets the tone for their perception of you throughout the hiring process and employment. So when a candidate receives personalized attention and a speedy time-to-hire, their opinion (and their network’s opinions) of your brand will last well beyond their first day.

Author Bio

Joyce Chan is Chief Operation Officer at Fountain where she is responsible for Marketing, Data Science, Analytics, and Strategic Execution & Management. Joyce brings over 15 years of leadership experience in technology, marketplaces, and hourly worker workforce management. Visit www.fountain.com Connect https://www.linkedin.com/in/joycehchan