If you are recruiting new members for your team and about to undertake candidate interviews, we have put together some top tips to help you improve Candidate Experience and get the best out of them.
Why make your candidate feel at ease during an interview?
By taking proactive steps to improve candidate experience during an interview, employers can create a better opportunity to gain the advantage over competitors to recruit skilled candidates.
Every interaction within the candidate experience will influence your company’s overall brand, so taking steps to make sure you don’t leave candidates with a negative impression will give you the edge when it comes to hiring the best talent.
Remember, candidates will share their experiences regardless of whether they were good or bad!
5 Steps to Improve Candidate Experience
So, by following our five easy steps will help make sure your next interviewee feels relaxed and ready to tackle the interview with confidence.
1. Regularly Communicate with Candidates
Telling candidates about timescales will help manage their expectations and reduce the chances that they will accept another offer while waiting to hear back from their application. You would think that this would be an obvious practice, but many companies just don’t do it.
Candidates like to be kept in the loop; a few minutes out of your day to email a candidate to acknowledge an application creates a good impact on candidate experience.
A recent survey revealed that 65% of job seekers said they either never or rarely received notice of their application status. (Source: CareerArc)
2. Creating the Right Atmosphere
It's all about environment and first impressions!
It is important your candidate feels comfortable from the very start. Let them know beforehand exactly where the interview will take place and how long it will last so that they know what to expect before they arrive.
Offering the candidate a drink before the interview gets underway gives them time to breathe; this simple gesture will help them relax and gather their thoughts in preparation before you begin.
And don’t forget. . . treat them with respect – they have invested time to attend and (hopefully) researched in preparation, so make sure this time is free of interruptions – leave your mobile phone in your desk!
3. Listen to What your Candidate is Saying
Let your candidate speak; interrupting halfway through their answer will cause them to lose their train of thought. Take an additional pause when they have finished just making sure they’ve said everything they need to say.
Be patient and really listen to what they have to say. This makes the candidate feel more comfortable and will help you understand their answers thus helping you make a better overall hiring decision.
It’s also crucial to understand how your candidate might be feeling at the time of interview. The whole process can be nerve-wracking – put them at ease by chatting on a more personal level to find out what makes them tick.
4. Offer Candidates a Chance to Meet the Team
An informal chat with other members of the team at the time of the interview will help their experience feel less intimidating.
Giving them a chance to meet the team they may be working with, will give the candidate an essential glimpse of what life would be like within your organization.
The same candidate might receive two job offers with different salaries, knowing the company might sway their decision regardless of the salary.
5. Provide Feedback
Whether the candidates are successful or not, employers should always give feedback.
Constructive feedback makes candidates feel recognized and appreciated. By committing to a hiring process, the candidate has already demonstrated their keen interest in the company. If there’s another more suitable vacancy within your company, by offering feedback the candidate will feel empowered to apply again.
Equally, to gain insight to improve your existing recruitment process, always collect feedback from your candidates. This will help to highlight any areas that can be improved.
Getting the recruitment journey right...
Overhauling your entire hiring process to improve candidate experience doesn’t happen overnight, but we hope these quick and easy changes can make some positive improvements which will go a long way to enhance and protect your brand as an employer.
Of course, our expert team at Compass Point Recruitment can help assist you with all aspects of your recruitment, just give us a call on 01284 765 700 to find out more.
Compass Point Recruitment, your local recruitment experts
Whether you are looking to find yourself a new role or filling a vacancy, Compass Point Recruitment is your local expert recruitment team. We specialise in recruitment at all levels in Accountancy, Engineering, Food, Human Resources, Industrial, Office Support, Sales & Marketing and Supply Chain.
From our Bury St Edmunds base, since 1995, we have built excellent local recruitment expertise working with clients and candidates across the whole of East Anglia region including Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex and Norfolk.