Just do it.

A different view on Candidate Experience

This edition is the first in a series.

Today’s is about ideology, the following ones on practical application.

It’s a popular phrase in recruitment and one which often takes the wrong focus.

Candidate experience often goes hand in hand with ‘bad’ – no responses to applications, ghosting, no feedback, too many interviews and so on.

This creates the impression that to create a good candidate experience, is only to mitigate each problem in turn.

That’s only a small part of the puzzle and one which only requires intent, little skill.

Of course, if you aren’t that bothered about the experience of people whom you aren’t going to employ, you may not think it is important.

I’m pleased to say many people do place emphasis on solving these problems. Check out the Circle Back Initiative and RecruiterRater as a start.

But it’s the wrong way to look at candidate experience, in my opinion, and the commercial opportunity it brings.

This is the crux of my ideology - good recruitment leads to a better candidate experience; good candidate experience makes it easier to recruit.

An analogy.

If you’re a runner, then your running shoes are an important purchase.

I’ve no doubt Nike will be one of the first brands anyone thinks of.

You may choose to dive deep into research - in shops, online, talking to shoe owners, on the Nike website, anywhere Nike is present.

TikTok?

You’ll inevitably see the right message for the medium.

Of course, Nike won’t be aware of you individually, but they will be aware that every touch point in the consumer journey creates an experience that may lead to you buying.

They spend many millions on converting your experience into money through a good product, experiential marketing, SEO, CRO and the many tools at their disposal.

Their brand, marketing, information, reputation and service is what you experience and informs your decision to buy.

Everything is intentional with the consequence being your experience.

Experience which may lead you to purchase their shoes.

Candidate experience is no different.

It’s the direct consequence of everything you do and say in recruitment.

Every touch point within your process. Every touch point before and after. Everything candidates can find out about you. What other people say.

These experiences inform their decision to work for you, to interview with you, to apply to your job, as well as the decision to walk away without you ever knowing.

Candidate experience informs every step of their journey with you.

If the experience is suboptimal, ideal candidates can and do walk away, sometimes before you can be aware of their existence.

It goes to follow that if you design every touch point in the candidate journey intentionally to create the right experience, ideal candidates are more likely to want to work for you. If not now, then when the time is right.

And the consequence of this approach is a better experience for the candidates you decline too, with no additional effort.

Here’s an example to leave you with.

Now I know that many agencies and employers talk about their disruptive approach to candidate experience.

Yet when you look at their adverts they also say

“Only successful candidates will be contacted” “If you don’t hear from us within a week…”

What kind of experience does this leave readers with?

Hands up if you’re guilty.

If you look at the rare adverts I put up, they all say

“All applications will be replied to within three working days”

A small change that can make an impact, which requires accountability on my part.

A small piece of the puzzle.

The next newsletter shows three practical applications of this ideology that you can implement straight away.

Thanks for reading.

Regards,

Greg

p.s. If you’re still here, like the idea of improving how you recruit, lack capacity or need better candidates, and are curious how I can help, these are my services:

- recruitment of key hires in commercial, operational and technical leadership disciplines

- manage part or all of your recruitment on an annualised service basis (Cognate)

- recruitment coaching and mentoring (if you need a periodic steer in the right direction)

- recruitment strategy setting (for single vacancies through to programmes of work)

- outplacement support

Just hit reply if you want to check if my approach is right for you.