Article: Make these changes to decode candidate experience

Employee Relations

Make these changes to decode candidate experience

From easing the process to building relationships, this is what some leading companies are doing
Make these changes to decode candidate experience

Candidate experience is one of the hottest topics in recruiting and irrespective of the size of business, companies are now aware that their success in attracting and recruiting top talent depends on managing the overall hiring process better. Offering job seekers a seamless hiring process has now become more important than ever, as candidates gain the upper hand in the job market. 

A positive interview experience is an incentive for a talented person to join your organization, while a negative experience an undesirable aspect to a company’s reputation.So, as businesses struggle to provide great candidate experience during the hiring process, here are five examples from leading companies

1. AIG: Train recruiters and communicate with applicants

American International Group (AIG) overhauled its recruiting process in 2011 by using a new recruiting software to handle the inflow of resumes and candidates. Besides, it took steps to ensure candidates didn’t waste applying to positions for which they lacked the required skills or experience by attaching mini-assessments within the job postings. This kept candidate from just applying for a role, instead the system asked them to answer a set of questions now which helped AIG assess whether they possessed the skills for the specific role. This process helped save time for both job seekers and recruiters and ensured that candidates apply for relevant jobs.

Also, AIG also standardized its internal recruiter training through a monthly session called “Raising Our Game.” In this training, recruiters learned the nuances of its applicant tracking system and the best way to handle and communicate with candidates throughout the recruiting process. 

2. Salesforce:  Listen more and communicate often

When it comes to hiring a candidate, Salesforce looks for a match of its values like teamwork, collaboration in a candidate. They ask probing questions, engage candidates in real conversation, and focus on knowing about a candidate than assessing them, which helps them to have a better match of the talent with the role. They give close attention to referrals from their own employees, acknowledge every single one of them and keep them updated on the job status.

3. Google: Structured interviews and established criteria

Google, one of the most valued companies of the world, always maintains that recruiting is the linchpin to a thriving company. As revealed by Laszlo Bock,  former senior VP, People Operations at Google, the company conforms to three key rules during its recruitment operations.

  • Keep a high benchmark for quality and don’t ever compromise

  • Evaluate candidates with an objective mindset aided by structured interviews and clear criteria

  • Offer candidates a reason to join. 

The company’s standardized recruiting process and reliance on situational and behavioural questions to assess its candidates is what has helped it to provide a solid candidate experience. 

4. Zappos: Focus on building relationships

Zappos began its Zappos Insider program to deal with its problem of 98.87 candidate rejection percent and 80 percent bounce rate from its career site. This program involved focusing on creating long-term and meaningful relationships with prospective applicants.

As the focus shifted to having open-ended, detailed conversations with candidates and knowing about them instead of being pressured to fill a role, the candidate engagement became better. This led to recruiters sourcing quality candidates who were truly interested in the company. The bonus? It also left a positive impression on the candidates about how Zappos treats its people.That is how Zappos revolutionized its candidate experience.

5. Dignity Health: A sense of connection with the overall brand

Dignity Health focuses on preparing the candidate by communicating the company principles and have them take a close look at their mission and our values. Human kindness is a core competency which is carefully evaluated as any other vital ability or talent in a candidate during the hiring process. Developing a standardized method for measuring these character requirements and probing the candidates well are other steps taken by Dignity Health for a great candidate experience. 

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Topics: Employee Relations, Employee Engagement, Life @ Work, #Jobs

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