The big focus at this year’s In House Recruitment Expo seemed to be on Candidate Experience. Many speakers focused their presentation on this subject.
It’s no surprise that that this coincides with our continued economic recovery and one of the lowest unemployment rates for well over a decade. It’s competitive out there!
Unless you are happy to settle for second best when it comes to your next hire (or you are happy to pay over the odds to attract these people) you need to ensure that your entire candidate experience is better than that of your competition.
So… “Candidate Experience”… What on earth are we actually referring to when we talk about this?
For me, it starts before you even know you have a vacancy and doesn’t finish until the successful candidate is not only on-board, but competent in their role.
Here’s some of the points that myself and the rest of the Eploy team tend to cover when working with clients to design award winning candidate experiences. Did I mention we’ve helped clients to win awards for “candidate experience”?!
Your employer brand
What does your employer brand say about you?
How closely does this link to what you want it to say?
What impact is your consumer brand having on your attraction strategy?
Is it working for you or against you?
How does it compare to the competition?
Does your recruitment process reflect your brand?
Is your brand “attractive” to everyone in your potential candidate pool?
Are your hiring managers working with you on this?
Your attraction strategy
Where are you advertising?
How are you advertising?
What’s your message?
Do you have a careers site?
When was the last time it was updated / refreshed?
Are you expecting candidates to come to you or are you going out to find them?
Where and how are you recording information?
Do you start from scratch for each and every vacancy?
Are you using agencies or other 3
rd party suppliers?
How well are they representing your brand?
How well are they integrating with your recruitment process?
Communication
How regularly are you communicating with candidates?
Do you have an automated “keep in touch” mechanism?
Are you going back to candidates that have been “regretted”?
How well are you using interview information to make your opportunity exciting?
Recruitment Process
- How many interview stages are you running?
- Is this more or less than the competition?
- How well is information passed from one interviewer to another?
- How well does your recruitment process reflect your employer brand?
On Boarding
What does your induction process look like?
Is everything ready for every new starter (IT, Email, Car, etc)?
How do you collect and store documentation (Application forms, ETW, Declarations, Diversity, Etc)?
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