It’s a simple truth: customers are often potential applicants – and applicants potential customers. That’s why creating a winning applicant experience is just as important as delivering a stellar customer experience.

Unfortunately, many employers fail to recognize the impact their hiring processes have on applicants. While most businesses strive to optimize every step of the customer journey, the same attention is rarely extended to applicants. A good starting point is to ask this simple question:

What would our customers say if they went through our hiring process?

A company’s interaction, whether with customers or applicants, directly impacts the organization’s reputation and long-term success by fostering – or failing to foster – trust, satisfaction, and loyalty.

“Companies who take the right approach to recruitment by treating candidates like customers stand a much better chance of finding the right person for the job.”

Richard Beevers, Marketing and Customer Experience Advisor

ELEVATING THE APPLICANT JOURNEY

1. Respect Their Time.

Just as every effort is taken to ensure quick service, efficient processes, and responsive communication with customers, applicants appreciate the same courtesies. They don’t like long, drawn-out processes that waste their time, and they don’t want to be bothered with boring tasks that appear unrelated to the job. From redundant questions to technical glitches, online job applications are frequent violators of applicants’ time and effort.

Streamlining the recruitment process by focusing on job-relevant tasks and questions demonstrates respect for applicants’ time and increases your ability to attract the right talent.

2. Communicate with Courtesy and Efficiency.

More than anything else, customers expect efficient service. They don’t like to wait in long lines or to be placed on extended holds. “Ghosting” customers, without a clear explanation of the next step, is the kiss of death. The same holds true for applicants. They want to know what to expect and when follow up will occur. If the process is inefficient or lacks common courtesy, it leaves a bad impression. And to be frank, it’s disrespectful.

Communicating with warmth, clarity, and efficiency builds trust, reduces confusion, and keeps candidates engaged throughout the process.

3. Stay Interactive and Engaging.

As a customer, I enjoy a shopping experience that is interactive and informative with a splash of entertainment. Similarly, while employers need to gather information about applicants, candidates are more likely to engage when they feel like they’re actively involved in the process. A one-sided recruitment experience can feel tedious and intrusive. The last thing applicants want is to feel like they’re just a pawn in the process.

When candidates feel engaged and valued, they are more likely to remain interested in the role and to have a stronger connection with your organization.

4. Be Informative and Candid.

Potential customers want to know about a company before making a buying decision. They want to know what makes the business unique and how the product or service will meet their needs. In a similar way, applicants want to know about a potential employer. What is it like to work for that organization? What does the job entail? How do they know it will be a good fit for them? Organizations that provide a realistic preview of the job and their organization – highlighting both the rewards and challenges – not only build clear expectations, but also help applicants decide if the job is right for them.

Applicants who have clear expectations about the work are less likely to become frustrated with normal challenges on the job and more likely to engage and succeed in the role.  

5. Empower Confidence.

As a customer, I want to know I’ve made the right decision. I like to leave the store or add-to-cart, feeling confident I’ve made the right choice. Confidence is equally important for applicants – and for you as an employer. The desired outcome for all parties is the same: making the right decision. Hiring is a high-stakes event for both applicants and employers. That’s why it’s critical to design an applicant journey that provides the information candidates need to decide if the job is right for them – and for you to decide if they are right for the job.

Take steps to minimize subjective judgment and opinions. The best employment decisions are based on objective, job-relevant, skills-based data.   

Creating a positive applicant experience not only helps in hiring the right people, but also strengthens your company’s brand, reputation, and long-term success. Word of mouth travels fast, and applicants who have a positive experience, whether they’re hired or not, are more likely to speak highly of your brand. This helps enhance your company’s reputation and makes it a more desirable place to work.

HOW CAN WE HELP?

Employment Technologies was founded on creating immersive, highly engaging hiring solutions to attract the best talent, giving applicants, recruiters, and employers everything they need to make the best employment decisions.

We help our clients – and their applicants – achieve Hire Confidence by immersing candidates in real workplace situations and giving them the opportunity to prove their potential for job success. Explore our Hire Confidence® solutions here.

We also help companies evaluate their applicant journey by examining their hiring processes with data-driven insights and action steps for superior prediction and engagement.  Learn about optimizing your candidate journey here.