This is how Google’s honest rejection is saving their reputation

The recruitment process generally involves five significant steps- i) recruitment planning, ii) strategy development, iii) searching, iv) screening, and v) evaluation and control. And while listing them out doesn’t take beyond ten-fifteen seconds, it takes months to actually go through it. The process of screening and evaluation and eventual hiring can alone take 27.5 days, on average. It doesn’t matter whether you are new to hiring or a pro; it is a long process. And the longer it takes to fill up a position; you tend to lose promising candidates along the way. The most common yet overlooked reason behind this is- the lack of good candidate experience.

Building a great candidate experience, although it may appear, is not a Herculean task. In fact, the small efforts that speak to the candidates and recruiters now have the technology to their aid. Here are some ways big companies have been creating great candidate experiences.

Always keep the candidates in the loop

Recruitment is a long process and can end up taking a month often in the quest to find the perfect candidate for the job; most candidates are left clueless about how far along they are in the process. And trust us, that’s a total deal-breaker. It leaves a negative impact on the candidates, and if a candidate is left unsatisfied with the hiring process, they will talk about it. And in the present times, where candidates have the option to write feedback for companies on platforms like Glassdoor, providing a good candidate experience is not only a good practice but a necessity.

The Recruiting Operations Manager, Olivia Melmon from Digital Ocean, and her team extensively focus on providing transparency at each stage of the hiring process so that the candidates are not left hanging. As a bonus, the recruiter’s also saved a lot of time. So, it really helps fast pace the process and puts in a good word. Here are some of the tips that Digital Ocean’s recruiting team swears by, and you should try them too.

Personalisation is the key

85% of the recruiters rely on email as the main channel for communication with the candidates. However, most candidates fail to provide personalised touch in the process. Gone are the days when candidates would respond to mass emails and random calls asking them to apply for a new opportunity. These days, candidates will only open a mail if it is addressed to them and actually matches their background and preferences.

HGV, a global vacation ownership company, entrusts personalisation as the primary key to ensuring a great hiring experience. They use their value proposition as a tool to find the right candidate for the profile. Along with that, when a candidate logs in on the website and creates a profile, the next time the candidate returns to the homepage, they receive a personalised message like the image displayed below.

While it might sound a bit tricky to make a personalised communication channel with every applicant but trust it’s totally not. You can use technologies to ensure a smooth and customised communication channel, and all you have to do is set up templates (available online as well) and just click send when needed.

Always give a feedback

51% of candidates expect to receive feedback even if they are not being hired. And, trust us, going ahead, this number will keep rising, so, even though it might seem like a tedious task, you have to get on board with it. In the search and screening of finding the perfect employee, you often need to go through thousands of applications. But in this process, we often forget that the words go out and whether an applicant can come in handy in future and with that in mind, you have to think of providing constructive feedback.

All you have to do is be honest with them and keep it simple; if you plan to keep them in your database and consider them in the future, mention that or just thank them for their time and tells them that it will not work out. Tell them what they should be doing next; maybe they can be on the lookout for some other opportunities. And while you might think that it will lead to negative feedback for you, it is beneficial in the long run. Take Google, for example, 80% of the candidates they have interviewed and rejected still desire to work for them in future and would keep in touch with them.

Consider digitisation

Three words- Attract, engage, and employ was the idea that led to the digitisation of the recruitment process at Cisco. While the COVID pandemic compelled everyone to use technology to aid the process of recruitment, Cisco digitised their recruitment process in 2017 through a home-grown app. The app focuses on supporting candidates through the interview and onboarding process. And needless to say, the added guidance provided the candidates work in favour of the company and are given a chance; who wouldn’t want to work with Cisco, right?

Not only that, like any good firm, they ask candidates to provide feedback about the whole experience. It gives the candidates a chance to map their entire journey, and trust us, it will work in your favour. The current market is all about online accessibility. According to research conducted by Glassdoor, 50% of candidates use mobile to apply for a job these days. Hence, you need to ensure that your job applications are adaptable to and mobile-friendly.