Why Does Candidate Experience Matter?

We’ve found in our nearly thirty years of executive search that the most successful hiring organizations invest in their employer brand and focus on delivering a candidate experience that’s consistent with that brand. These organizations recognize that the best candidates have many options so these companies explore ways to differentiate and promote their organization, which ultimately can lower the cost to attract candidates.

These leading organizations have a clear plan for how and when they’ll communicate to job seekers and have an efficient process in place to ensure an excellent candidate experience. The very best organizations liken the candidate-employer relationship to a courtship that has to be nurtured along the way to achieve a positive end result. These organizations are also open to and solicit feedback from candidates and are continually refining their process.

Despite candidate experience being critical, survey data from CareerArc.com suggests that many organizations are failing to meet expectations—nearly 60% have had a poor experience with a prospective employer. The data also shows that when candidates have a poor experience, they’re talking about it with others—72% have shared their negative experience (either online or with someone directly).

In a competitive market, it’s critical that organizations reflect on what their employer brand is, and treat candidates in a way that’s consistent with that brand. We stress the importance of delivering an exceptional caliber candidate experience during the interview process because it’s critical in attracting the best candidates and retaining talent over time.

Note: This piece is part of our new series entitled “Blueprint for Delivering An Exceptional Candidate Experience” which will focus on delivering a positive candidate experience for executive job seekers.  Read the first piece in the series “Delivering a Positive Candidate Experience – Ten Mistakes to Avoid” here.

By Judy Kirby, President and Executive Recruiter with Kirby Partners, a leading executive search firm specializing in cyber security and healthcare IT recruiting.