The candidate experience encompasses every interaction a job seeker has with your company during the hiring process. From the pre-application experience to the final job offer and employee onboarding, each touchpoint shapes candidates’ perception of your organization.
A positive candidate experience can lead to higher offer acceptance rates, better employer branding, and even future business opportunities. On the flip side, a negative experience can deter top talent and harm your reputation.
In this article, we’ll explore 20 actionable ways to improve your candidate experience, ultimately helping you hire the talent your company needs to succeed.
1. Write clear and compelling job descriptions
Misleading or unclear job descriptions can lead to candidate dissatisfaction. Job seekers don’t want to waste their time tailoring applications and interviewing for roles that don’t match reality.
Job descriptions should be clear, concise, and engaging so they accurately represent the job and entice your ideal candidates to apply. Highlight key responsibilities, required qualifications, and what makes your company a great place to work. Using inclusive language can help you attract a larger group of qualified applicants. And don’t forget to proofread: 30% of workers would stop applying or abandon an application if they spotted spelling and grammatical errors in the job description.
2. Discuss compensation early
Share your pay range upfront, ideally in your job posting. Four out of 10 workers (38%) said they’d abandon a job application if the salary range wasn’t disclosed. If your company isn’t ready for this level of pay transparency, sharing compensation early in the recruitment process is the next best thing.
Sharing your pay range upfront allows candidates to assess whether the compensation aligns with their expectations. This avoids wasting time on applications for roles that wouldn’t ultimately meet their needs. It also allows you to focus your efforts more on the candidates who would consider an offer within your pay range.
3. Build out your careers site
A well-designed careers site provides a centralized platform for job seekers to learn about your company and make informed decisions. Use it to highlight the reasons candidates might want to join your team.
A robust careers site might include:
- Job openings
- Employee benefits
- Information about your company culture
- An overview of your hiring process
- Employee demographics
- Employee testimonials and success stories
- Virtual tours
- FAQs
4. Provide transparency around your hiring process
A transparent hiring process creates a more positive, engaging, and respectful experience, leaving a lasting positive impression on your candidates.
Let candidates know your timelines, interview formats, and decision criteria so they can prepare and feel more confident. Setting clear expectations with candidates fosters trust and shows respect for their time and effort.
5. Streamline your application process
Nearly half of workers (49%) say that most job application processes are too long and complicated. A cumbersome application process can discourage potential candidates from applying or make rejected applicants feel resentful about their wasted time.
Simplify your application forms to ask only for essential information, enable candidates to apply using a resume or LinkedIn profile, and ensure your application process is mobile-friendly. An easier application process will encourage the most in-demand, high-quality candidates to submit an application.
6. Simplify interview scheduling
Easy interview scheduling makes your recruitment process more convenient and less stressful, right from the beginning.
A candidate self-scheduling tool allows candidates to choose interview times that best fit their availability, reducing the back-and-forth communication and scheduling conflicts. This flexibility demonstrates respect for your candidates’ time and commitments, enhancing their overall perception of your company.
Additionally, a streamlined scheduling process reduces delays and keeps the hiring process moving efficiently. By minimizing logistical hassles, you create a smoother, more professional candidate experience.
7. Offer accommodations
Providing accommodations—such as wheelchair access, sign language interpreters, or flexible interview formats—helps ensure accessibility for all candidates.
Offer these accommodations proactively to demonstrate your commitment to diversity and equal opportunity. Including a note about accessibility on your careers site, job application, and follow-up emails can signal to candidates that you value all candidates and their unique needs.
Accommodations also enable candidates to perform at their best, allowing a fair assessment of their skills and qualifications. Ultimately, this approach creates a more welcoming and supportive environment, enhancing the overall candidate experience and helping you attract a broader, more diverse talent pool.
8. Make prompt decisions
Candidates are eager to hear back from you following each stage in the recruitment process. Making timely decisions reduces the anxiety and uncertainty that often accompany prolonged waiting periods. Even when the candidate didn’t make it to the next round, a timely response offers closure and demonstrates that you respect their time and effort.
Additionally, a faster decision-making process keeps your hiring timeline on track, helping you maintain candidate engagement and interest. Overall, timely decisions create a more positive, respectful, and satisfying experience, enhancing your employer brand and candidate relationships.
9. Communicate often
Frequent, personalized communication can help you foster a sense of connection and respect with candidates. Regular updates, even about delays, keep candidates engaged in your hiring process and informed about their application status.
Additionally, prompt responses when candidates reach out demonstrate professionalism and attentiveness, further building trust. Maintaining an open dialogue allows you to create a positive, engaging, and supportive candidate experience that sets your company apart.
10. Train your interviewers
Training interviewers is an important step toward ensuring an effective, consistent, and professional interview process.
Training should cover how to create a welcoming interview environment, communicate your employer value proposition, and assess candidate skills. Interviewers may also be trained to recognize and mitigate unconscious biases, fostering a fairer evaluation process.
Candidates often make considerable effort to prepare for interviews—and your team members should do the same. Well-trained interviewers can be instrumental in building a more respectful, informative, and positive candidate experience.
11. Use structured interviews
Irrelevant or off-topic interview questions can frustrate candidates and lead to unfair hiring decisions. Ensuring questions are pertinent to the role can make the interview process more effective, while improving the candidate experience.
Structured interviews use standardized questions and evaluation criteria to help ensure that every candidate is evaluated on the same basis. This standardization reduces variability, ensuring each candidate has an equal opportunity to showcase their skills. It also helps interviewers stay focused and organized, reducing the likelihood of bias, irrelevant tangents, and duplicate questions.
12. Prepare candidates for interviews
Send candidates materials to help them prepare for your interviews, such as where to go, who they’ll be meeting, and what format their interview will use. Some organizations are even sharing interview questions ahead of time to ease anxiety and allow candidates to perform their best.
When candidates know what to expect, they can engage in more meaningful and insightful discussions that showcase their skills and qualifications.
13. Limit the number of stages in your recruitment process
Limiting the number of steps in your interview process makes the hiring journey more efficient and less burdensome for your candidates—and for your team.
Fewer stages mean candidates spend less time navigating the process, reducing fatigue and frustration. A streamlined process reflects well on your company’s organization and respect for candidates’ time, fostering a positive impression.
Additionally, a concise interview process accelerates decision-making, keeping candidates engaged and minimizing the risk of losing them to competitors.
14. Create a welcoming interview environment
A welcoming environment fosters open communication and helps candidates perform their best. Greet candidates warmly, introduce the interviewers, and outline the interview process. This hospitality shows respect and reduces anxiety, putting candidates at ease.
For in-person interviews, provide a clean, quiet space with refreshments and comfortable seating. For virtual interviews, ensure your technology works smoothly and that your interviewers are in a setting free from distractions.
15. Give candidates time to ask their own questions
Your team members and your candidates are each trying to determine if the other is the right fit. Make sure your interviewers are leaving time for candidate questions throughout your hiring process so that your candidates can learn more about your organization and team.
Giving candidates time to ask their own questions demonstrates respect for their curiosity and concerns. It also empowers candidates to clarify doubts, understand your role and company culture better, and assess mutual fit.
16. Compensate candidates for work assessments
Assessments are a valuable tool for evaluating candidates’ skills in a real-world context—but can require a significant time investment. Offering compensation for work assessments acknowledges this effort and helps candidates feel appreciated for their skills and expertise.
Compensating for assessments also helps level the playing field, allowing candidates who may need to take time off work or incur expenses to participate without financial strain.
17. Provide feedback to rejected candidates
Most of your candidates won’t be hired for your open role—that’s just the nature of hiring. Providing constructive feedback can leave candidates with a positive impression of your organization.
While you’d ideally offer feedback to every candidate, that’s not always feasible. Prioritize offering feedback to candidates who have interviewed with your team and send automated rejection emails to the remaining candidates. This approach provides closure and encourages candidates to reapply in the future or recommend the company to others.
18. Ask candidates for feedback
Asking candidates for feedback demonstrates a respect for their perspectives and commitment to continuous improvement. Candidates appreciate being heard and valued, fostering a positive perception of your organization even if they aren’t selected. Plus, implementing changes improves the candidate experience for future job seekers.
Collecting and analyzing candidate feedback via surveys is a powerful way to refine your recruitment process. By understanding what works and what doesn’t, you can make informed changes that enhance candidate satisfaction, improve your employer brand, and attract top talent.
19. Personalize your job offers
The candidate experience doesn’t formally end until your top-choice candidate accepts your job offer and shows up for their first day of work.
Maintain momentum and engagement by personalizing your job offer, showing genuine excitement about your candidate’s potential contribution. Provide comprehensive details about the role, benefits, and growth opportunities. Offer support, such as a point of contact for questions and guidance through any pre-employment steps. And share next steps around offer acceptance, start date, and onboarding.
An enthusiastic job offer can set a positive tone for your candidate’s future with your company.
20. Transition your candidate with employee onboarding
A thoughtful employee onboarding process offers a transition between the candidate experience and the employee experience. This is where you celebrate your new hire, help them acclimate to their new role, and set them up for a successful future at your organization.
Begin onboarding before your new hire’s first day with a warm welcome and details about what to expect next. This can help you build early employee engagement and satisfaction.
Final thoughts on how to improve your candidate experience
Improving the candidate experience is an ongoing effort that requires attention to detail and a commitment to creating a positive, engaging journey for job seekers. By implementing these strategies, you can attract top talent, build a strong employer brand, and streamline your hiring process.
Want to learn how JobScore can help you elevate your candidate experience? Start your free trial or schedule a call with a recruitment advisor.
