Creating a Five Star Candidate Experience to Improve Your Employer Brand
By Jen Goldman & Patti Dorsey, Bolster
Summer 2023
In today's competitive job market, attracting and retaining top talent requires more than just competitive salaries and benefits. Candidates are looking for companies that provide a positive experience throughout the hiring process. A 5-star candidate experience helps you secure the best talent, but it also plays a crucial long-term role in building a strong employer brand. In this blog post, we’ll explore essential strategies to create a remarkable candidate experience and enhance your employer brand.
1. Clear and Transparent Communication:
From the initial application to the final decision, clear and transparent communication is key. It’s best practice to promptly acknowledge receipt of applications and to keep candidates informed about the stages of the hiring process, timelines, and expectations. Open lines of communication help you build trust and demonstrate respect for candidates' time and efforts.
2. Personalization and Engagement:
You can make candidates feel valued and appreciated by personalizing their experience. Something as simple as addressing them by their (correctly spelled) name or tailoring your communication to their background and qualifications shows that you’re connecting with them as a person, rather than a line item. You can share insights about the company culture, values, and growth opportunities to engage candidates during the process. Leverage technology, such as personalized emails or video messages, to create a human connection and showcase your employer brand.
3. Streamlined Application Process:
So many application processes have a frustrating user experience. You can stand out by simplifying your process. Optimize your career website and online application forms for easy navigation and mobile use, then eliminate unnecessary steps and only request information that is essential at each stage. A user-friendly and efficient application process demonstrates your commitment to a candidate-centric approach.
4. Engaging Job Postings:
Compelling and informative job descriptions inspire candidates to apply. A well written job description clearly communicates the role's responsibilities, required skills, expectations, and impact. You should also highlight unique aspects of your company culture, perks, and professional development opportunities, using storytelling techniques to create an emotional connection and showcase your employer brand.
5. Thoughtful Interview Experience:
An effective and engaging interview experience goes beyond asking a list of questions. Interviewers should offer a warm welcome and create a relaxed atmosphere. Structure interviews to allow candidates to showcase their skills and experience effectively, while also providing them with opportunities to ask questions. Interviews are two-way conversations, after all. Want to go above and beyond? Show genuine interest in their career aspirations and provide constructive feedback after interviews.
6. Timely and Constructive Feedback:
After each stage of the hiring process, provide candidates with timely and constructive feedback. Even if someone isn’t selected to move forward, take the time to give specific feedback and highlight areas of strength or opportunities for improvement. This demonstrates your commitment to candidate growth and development, helps them understand your decision-making process, and can be encouraging in an often stressful process.
7. Consistent Follow-up and Onboarding:
Consistent communication throughout the hiring process is vital, especially once the final decision is made. Follow up with candidates to provide updates, thank them for their time, and offer assistance if needed. Once a candidate accepts your offer, facilitate their transition into the company with a smooth onboarding process. Make them feel welcome from day one, introduce them to the team, and provide them with necessary resources.
In today’s talent market, creating a 5-star candidate experience is crucial for building a strong employer brand and attracting top talent. Remember, a positive candidate experience not only enhances your employer brand but also promotes a culture of respect, professionalism, belonging, and growth within your organization. When you invest in creating an exceptional candidate experience, you’ll reap the rewards of attracting and retaining the best talent in the industry.
Bolster is an on-demand executive talent marketplace that helps accelerate companies’ growth by connecting them with experienced, highly vetted executives for full-time, interim, fractional, advisory, project-based, or board roles. Jen Goldman is Co-Founder & Head of Talent Acquisition & Member Supply and Patti Dorsey is an Executive Recruiter. Learn more about Bolster here.
This post is part of the America Achieves Talent Summer Series. America Achieves is a national nonprofit organization founded in 2011 to strengthen democracy by building educational bridges to the middle class and re-establishing the link between work and opportunity.
In early 2023, America Achieves selected Bolster, Edgility Consulting and LER Consultants (LER) and DGW Consulting Group (DGWCG), all nationally recognized talent sourcing and executive leadership firms, to participate in a philanthropically funded national talent pipeline pilot project known as the Collective Impact Talent Initiative. The Collective Impact Talent Initiative builds upon America Achieves’ work with equity-centered economic growth and workforce regional coalitions through the Commerce Department’s Build Back Better Challenge and Good Jobs Challenge, both of which were part of the Biden Administration’s American Rescue Plan. The Collective Impact Talent initiative, with its partners, provides inclusive, place-based regional coalitions from across the country, from upstate New York and Central Valley California, to Virginia and Texas, among others, with individualized and capacity-building support to source, recruit and hire the key diverse talent needed to drive the regional coalitions’ innovative and bold visions of equity-centered economic growth and workforce development. The Collective Impact Talent Initiative is grounded in the belief that coalitions and their work are only as good as their teams and people. You can learn more about the Collective Impact Talent Initiative by going to catalyzeblog.americaachieves.org/talent_initiative or by emailing catalyze@americaachieves.org.
