How to Create Moments That Matter in the Candidate Experience

WE DO NOT REMEMBER DAYS, WE REMEMBER MOMENTS. - Cesare Pavese

As talent acquisition and human resources professionals, we are often caught up in the business-side of hiring; we forget it’s people at the heart of our work. We look at recruiting as a process and reviewing applications as a task we can’t wait to cross off our to-do list.

I think it’s time to rethink recruiting and infuse more meaningful, human moments back into the candidate experience.

Did you know? Nearly half of job candidates don’t hear back from employers more than two months after applying for the job. And, candidates who have an overall “very poor” candidate experience receive very little, if any, consistent communication and/or feedback from employers.

COMMUNICATION. SO HUMAN. SO SIMPLE, YET IT ELUDES US.

I think sometimes we forget this: talented, skilled employees have choices when it comes to where and for whom they work. They can choose to work for your organization -- or your competitor. Even if HR knows this, hiring managers or company leaders may be under the (false) impression that top talent is just lining up outside your office door.

When it comes to defining the candidate experience, I envision every single touch point and interaction that a candidate has with an employer. The experience starts from the first time he or she learns about the employer, all the way through on-boarding as a new hire (if hired). The experience invokes feelings. The experience creates perceptions. The experience will influence their decision—and others.

Candidates can laud or lambast your hiring process in the most public of forums. According to the Talent Board’s 2017 research, 80 percent of candidates will share their positive experiences and 60 percent will share their negative experiences with others. This could be via a personal Facebook status update, a Glassdoor review or word of mouth.

How you treat others— throughout the entire talent attraction and acquisition process—will impact your organization’s ability to find and hire great people. Period. So, what can your organization do to further engage and captivate candidates?

How can you elevate your candidate experience from status quo to creating moments that matter? Watch and listen on YouTube to find out.

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