Candidate Experience: The Long-forgotten Now In The Light

The experience of the candidate during the recruitment process is no longer forgotten.

For a long time, recruiters did not need to pay much attention to the candidate experience. The objective was to recruit the best candidate possible and the rest was secondary. But this is changing rapidly.

In today's world, a candidate is a person; not a profile.

First of all, owing in large part to the evolution of technology and social media, candidates are now more easily able to communicate their experiences throughout the recruitment process to other potential candidates. As such, candidates now have the power to influence the image and reputation of large companies, as well as the decisions of other candidates on whether or not to apply. Poor experiences may even deter a candidate permanently from applying to any job at the company in question.

Secondly, the pace of the recruitment process is accelerating. Recruiters find themselves working with more candidates in less time. At the same time, candidates find themselves applying to many jobs at once and expecting quicker responses so that they too can effectively make decisions. Thus, recruiters are at a greater risk of losing candidates due to miscommunication and delays in making an offer.

For these reasons, recruiters and hiring managers must make an extended effort to look after their candidates and to ensure that their candidates are satisfied and well-informed about their situation throughout the recruitment process.

How can they do this?

Fortunately, the evolution of technology can also work in favor of companies and their recruiters. Indeed, ATS solutions are making it easier to find, manage, and retain promising candidates. Most importantly, they enable recruiters to do more with less -- an essential feature of today's recruitment landscape.

Recruiters are now able to improve the experiences of their candidates by leveraging the power of their ATS platforms and making them more responsive to their candidates' needs. Core functions of any ATS include consolidating and tracking candidates throughout the recruitment process so that no candidate is forgotten. Many ATS platforms also allow for the automation of repetitive but important tasks such as sending emails, distributing surveys, and administering tests. Not only does this help to keep candidates in the loop, it also helps to provide candidates with a forum by which to communicate their own feedback for areas they feel require improvement.

Ultimately, recruiters and HR managers should be aware of the constantly-evolving nature of their industry in order to adapt their methods to suit the needs of their candidates. Manatal is certainly one great tool to help them achieve this!

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