Companies need to bring in the right talent to meet their business goals, but they are constrained by inefficiencies in the recruiting process every step of the way, starting with the first impression they make on applicants. Let’s face it, traditional recruiting processes create a dismal experience for applicants, most of whom submit their résumés into a black hole of an ATS with nary a response.
The truth is that many companies struggle to create an enjoyable candidate experience. According to the Human Capital Institute, 60% of job seekers have a negative experience when they engage with potential employers.
Issues with the traditional hiring process
While we’ve come a long way from the days where potential employees walk into a business and hand the manager a résumé, there’s plenty left from a bygone era in today’s recruitment process that’s not set up to the advantage of today’s technology.
- “We’ll keep your résumé on file”
When applicants hear that they weren’t selected for a position, they are often told that their résumé will be kept on file for future opportunities. Most candidates consider this code for, “you’ll never hear from us again.” This poor follow-through does nothing to help the company’s reputation.
To be fair, when hiring managers send this message to candidates, they have good intentions. However, traditional ATS (applicant tracking systems) are so difficult to mine that talent acquisition teams are unable to find candidates again, even if they are a good match. This means companies are missing out on qualified candidates that are sitting right in their databases.
Related reading: Struggling with your HCM recruitment module? Here’s what to do
- Poor communication
Communication is difficult for employers when they are dealing with countless candidates. Sometimes, they don’t get back with unqualified applicants at all. Or, applicants may receive canned emails from the company that are not relevant to their situation. This lack of communication can be an issue not only for external candidates, but for internal candidates, as well. When employees that already work for your company are rejected for another position, poor communication can cause major resentment issues. These disgruntled job applicants will be more likely to look outside of the company for opportunities going forward.
Benefits of a positive candidate experience
- Great company reputation
Nowadays, thanks to social media, everyone is a publisher. According to Glassdoor, 72% of candidates that go through the hiring process and have a bad experience will leave an online review. These poor reviews can affect your ability to hire quality candidates, as potential employees check online reviews when looking for a job.
While most of the applicants that go through your hiring process will not end up getting hired, they can nevertheless end up being representatives for your company. Candidates that have a great hiring experience—even if they do not get the job—will have nothing but good things to say about you. It’s a small world. You may end up hiring—or attempting to hire—talent in the same personal or professional network as ones that didn’t make the cut. And don’t forget that leaving a great impression on candidates can lead to referrals.
- Competitive advantage
A better candidate experience can be an advantage over your competitors. If talent who is in a hiring process elsewhere is more impressed with their experience with your company, they may be more likely to accept your job offer, instead.
Related reading: How to turbo-boost hiring velocity
How to optimize the candidate experience
MojoHire gives candidates a dedicated portal where they can upload their résumé, find other available jobs they are well suited for, and check the status of their application. MojoHire’s AI-enabled matching engine intelligently reads their application and shows them jobs they would be considered a great fit for, not just whatever jobs are available. This not only saves candidates the trouble of applying for jobs they are not qualified for, but helps talent acquisition teams do their job better by encouraging great-fit candidates to apply for an open position they may have not otherwise known about.
From there, MojoHire’s streamlined process makes completing an application a breeze. Clunky application processes are automated and streamlined, providing a superior user experience and resulting in far fewer abandoned applications.
Thanks to this candidate portal, talent no longer has to wait for a response from a recruiter; they can easily find the current status of their application at their own convenience. Candidates won’t receive irrelevant emails from the company, either – an obvious boon to the overall experience.superior user experience
MojoHire also keeps candidates informed on future openings the are a great fit for automatically. MojoHire’s AI is always running, and invites candidates to apply to positions matched to them through automated outreach.
Learn more about how MojoHire can help you provide a stellar candidate experience.
Robert Dean
HEAD OF SALES AND MARKETING