Recruiting the right talent is essential for any business to succeed, which is why providing a good candidate experience during the recruitment process has become increasingly important. It is no longer enough to simply find the best candidates, recruiters must also ensure they provide excellent candidate care throughout their recruitment journey. Businesses reported a 70% improvement in the quality of hires when they took the time to create a favorable candidate hiring experience, Glassdoor shared.
“Candidate care” refers to the support and attention that recruiters provide to candidates throughout the job application process, from the moment they express interest in a job opportunity until they either accept an offer or are informed they were not selected. In this article, let’s define candidate care, what are the basics of good candidate care, along with best practices for creating a great candidate experience.
1. Defining Candidate Care
In the current competitive job market, how you treat candidates can be considered a make-or-break factor in your recruitment process. As a recruiter, you should strive to create an exceptional experience that starts from the beginning of the recruitment process and carries through until they have been hired. Good candidate care involves:
- Promptly responding to inquiries and applications, including feedback on the outcome
- Conducting thorough interviews, assessing skills, and understanding the candidate’s career goals
- Respecting candidates’ time by keeping them up-to-date with feedback and progress on their applications
- Making sure that all new hires are properly onboarded
Candidate care is all about showing respect to your candidates and valuing their time. Such efforts will ensure that leading talents don’t get lost in the shuffle and that potential recruits who do eventually land an offer are made aware of what makes them stand out from other applicants.
Candidate care has become a critical factor in the success of businesses today, as it can directly influence customer engagement and revenue. How? By having a strong candidate care program in place, businesses can build relationships with potential employees, increase their visibility, create positive feedback loops and boost the company's reputation.
For example, businesses that have a strong candidate care program in place can use it to connect with passive job seekers and build relationships over time. This can result in an influx of passive candidates who may be more likely to become engaged and end up getting placed, creating a positive impact on the bottom line.
By providing personalized attention and clear communication, organizations can create a positive candidate experience that reflects well on the agency and helps attract top talent in the future.
2. Understanding The Benefits of Good Candidate Care
Candidate care is an increasingly popular concept that goes beyond simply preventing negative candidate experiences. True candidate care means actively seeking to provide a superior experience for all candidates, regardless of the outcome of the recruiting process. Let’s look at the reasons why providing good candidate care is beneficial.
2.1 Foster a relationship of trust
Candidate care is the foundation of trust between the recruiter and the candidate, which can have a significant impact on the recruitment process. When candidates feel their time is respected, their queries answered promptly, and their applications are taken seriously, they are more likely to stay engaged with your company.
When candidates are engaged in the recruitment process, it means that they have a vested interest in finding a job and that they are motivated to find one. This is beneficial for recruiters as it increases their chances of making placements since there are more qualified and interested applicants available.
Engaged candidates also tend to be more open to feedback from recruiters, which can help them get better at self-marketing and presenting themselves professionally throughout the entire recruitment process. With engaged candidates, recruiters can focus on developing relationships with potential employees rather than just filling positions.
2.2 Better talent attraction
By providing a positive and professional experience for all job applicants, recruiters can enhance their reputation and create a more favorable impression with job seekers. This, in turn, can increase the chances of attracting top talent. Moreover, it can also lead to increased referrals and recommendations from satisfied job applicants. This can expand the talent pool and increase the chances of finding the best talent for the organization.
2.3 Increase candidate satisfaction
Personalizing the recruitment experience and treating all candidates with respect, regardless of the outcome of their application, can increase their satisfaction and create a positive image of the recruiters. By taking the time to provide them with good care throughout their recruitment journey, you are showing that you value them as individuals and respect their time.
Candidates who have a positive experience are more likely to feel satisfied and connected to the organization, which can increase their motivation and commitment to their role. As a recruiter, it's important to find candidates who are committed to their role and won't leave early. This not only benefits the company they're working for but also provides quality service and great value to your clients as a recruiter. Having long-term employees means that there is less of a need for frequent recruitment, which can be time-consuming and expensive for companies.
2.4 Increase Retention Rates
By providing a good candidate experience, you are more likely to keep those great candidates for longer. When new hires feel respected and valued from the outset of their employment relationship with you, they will be less likely to seek out other job opportunities elsewhere.
Temp recruiters often have to fill roles quickly, which means they don't always have the luxury of time to cultivate strong relationships with new candidates. However, by investing in good candidate care that involves providing respect and value from the start, they will be able to retain those great candidates for longer and increase redeployment rates. This means you can add more revenue to your Temp agency.
2.5 Save time and money
Finally, good candidate care saves time and money. When candidates have a positive experience throughout the recruitment process, they are more likely to accept an offer quickly, reducing the need for long-term recruiting efforts. Additionally, providing a great candidate experience shows potential hires that your company is efficient and organized, which can lead to higher referral rates.
3. Tips for Creating a Positive Experience During Recruitment
Creating a positive experience during recruitment is key to setting up a successful working relationship between the recruiter and talent. Here are some tips to help make the process go smoothly:
- Start by ensuring that you are organized and have a clear plan for the recruitment process. Try to make the process as efficient and streamlined as possible. This will help to reduce stress levels and make it more enjoyable for everyone involved. Some best practices that might help you out are: automating interview scheduling, applying ATS screening and calendar reminders for candidate outreach.
- Make sure to provide clear and honest information about the job position, company, and team dynamics to candidates so that they can make an informed decision about whether or not it is the right fit for them. On the other hand, as a recruiter, it's also important to have candid conversations with your client about their company culture and the job requirements. This allows you to paint an accurate picture of the role and its expectations for candidates, as well as any positive or negative aspects of the company that may influence a prospective employee's decision.
- It is important to give potential hires detailed information about the roles they are applying for. This includes providing them with a clear understanding of the job description, as well as expectations around working hours, salary, and benefits.
- Be patient and respectful of each candidate’s time allows them to feel heard and shows that you are committed to finding the right fit for the role. Additionally, not rushing the candidate through the recruitment process gives them the time they need to fully consider the opportunity, ask questions, and make an informed decision. The recruitment process mustn’t; taking your time will ensure that you find candidates who fit the role perfectly.
- Remember that communication is key. Providing meaningful feedback and keeping candidates informed through regular follow-up, it allows for mutual respect and confidence that the recruitment journey will be an honest and successful experience. To ensure that unsuccessful prospects have a great experience and don't feel abandoned, it is crucial for recruiters to automate outreach to them. Automating this process can help keep your company's brand strong and provide candidates with the care and respect they deserve.
4. How Vincere Comms can leverage your candidate care
At Vincere, we understand the importance of providing an excellent experience for our candidates. That's why we offer Vincere Comms - an innovative tool to help recruiters manage their candidate care efficiently and effectively with outstanding features.
- The internal chat hub allows recruiters to collaborate quickly and easily, making decisions about candidates faster so they can have a positive experience.
- The mobile app enables recruiters to make key decisions even when away from their desks – this helps ensure that candidates don't have to wait around for answers.
- The calendar makes sure no candidate outreach is forgotten or overlooked by helping you to stay on top of scheduled communications.
All of this adds up to an improved overall candidate care process!
5. Conclusion
In summary, candidate care should always be at the forefront of any recruitment process. In treating candidates with respect and showing consistent communication, a positive impression can be made while achieving higher quality hires who will be motivated to stay in their roles. When candidates feel valued, recruitment processes can be successful by both parties being on board and feeling good about the eventual outcome.