Imagine your office filled with people like Oprah, Einstein, or Marilyn Monroe. The smarts, the ideas, and of course, the style. Everything seems perfect with such a talented team. But then, you see only 4 people applied for your job opening. What happened? Why aren’t more great people applying? There’s no other way to say it, but… It could be your candidate experience. While a good candidate experience might get you a few more candidates, an exceptional candidate experience will get them on board faster.
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How can your candidate experience excite more candidates to apply to your jobs?
With these 4 easy ways!
Write clear and engaging job descriptions
First of all, your job description is most likely one of the first touchpoints with candidates. This is where the candidate experience usually starts. So if it’s not attractive enough, candidates won’t feel enticed enough to apply. In fact, there are a few other pitfalls to swerve from when crafting your job descriptions:
- Overly exaggerated graphics and design
- Too much jargon and technical language
- Endless blocks of content
- The use of biased language
That’s just to name a few. If you want to attract rock stars to your job descriptions, you want them to quickly and easily understand the content. In a very straightforward manner, candidates need to get a quick understanding of the role and your company.
Still copying and pasting old descriptions? Stop that today. That will only set you back from creating an awesome candidate experience. Why? Because candidates want to see that you’ve put in the effort to tailor them and update them with the latest requirements. Don’t try to convince us that the role of a Marketing Specialist – 10 years ago – is the same today.
Let’s wrap this up with a quick hack. Here’s what you can do instead:
- Write an accurate job title that is gender-neutral.
- Describe the broader function of the job.
- Give an accurate rundown of the role’s duties.
- Elaborate on the working conditions.
- Mention the required experience and education.
- Clarify the employment structure this role falls under.
- State the compensation or benefits.
Create a compelling career page
If you want to boost the candidate experience and get more candidates to apply to your vacancies, you can’t ignore your career page. Consider your career page like a storefront display. If a passerby likes what’s available on the vitrine, they’ll walk in.
The same thing goes for candidates. For many candidates, your career page is where their candidate experience starts. So you need to make sure this touchpoint stands out. A significant aspect of achieving this lies in certain details:
- The accessibility and visibility of your career page. A modern applicant tracking system, for instance, can assist in constructing a branded career page that transforms your company into a talent beacon. This doesn’t just boost the candidate experience but also amplifies your employer brand. Pro tip: Ensure that the career page is located either on the top or lower navigation menu. The goal is for it to catch the candidate’s eye instantly. Furthermore, optimizing for mobile devices is crucial in today’s digital age.
- The content and aesthetics of the page itself. A potential employee should be greeted with an engaging company description that’s concise yet captivating. The description should touch upon the essence of who you are, the services or products you offer, your motivations, and the unique manner in which you operate. It’s essential for top talents to see an authentic representation of your brand. Thus, moving away from generic stock images and focusing on genuine photos or videos of your team can make a world of difference. This gives candidates a glimpse into the heart of your company culture and could be the nudge they need to hit that ‘Apply’ button.
In essence, curating a career page that’s both genuine and efficient can elevate the overall candidate experience tremendously.
Establish an exemplary employer brand
You must know that your reputation should precede you. And if we know one thing for certain – it’s that a negative reputation or employer brand can negatively impair the candidate experience. Our advice? Show your awesome employer brand off!
Let candidates only see and read the incredible things about your company, and see how that will be a catalyst to improving the candidate experience. The only way to truly gain a competitive edge and get candidates to apply faster is by showcasing what makes your company unique. Anyone can say that they have an amazing work culture and environment.
But if you want to improve the candidate experience, you need to prove that. Whether it’s through your career page, corporate videos, team testimonials, social media, or the hiring process. You need to show and let candidates experience your great employer brand. Maybe it’s by getting back to them in real-time, maybe it’s by treating them like your customers, or maybe it’s by helping them go through a fast and easy hiring process.
Build a wonderful candidate experience
The candidate experience and employer brand go hand in hand. So if your candidates experienced a negative hiring process, they won’t hesitate to tell their friends or network about it. In fact, this could play a vital role in why candidates aren’t applying to your jobs.
Maybe they’ve heard that your recruiters don’t treat candidates right. Or maybe they’ve heard that you tend to leave candidates in the dark. Well, this is your chance to prove them wrong. Make sure that your hiring process is fast and efficient.
You want to personalize emails, allow candidates to self-schedule interviews, quickly send electronic offers, and streamline communication every step of the way. This helps you create a memorable candidate experience that inspires passive and active candidates to apply to your open vacancies.
Wrapping it up
Before you go, we hope you get to learn the fundamental ways the candidate experience can motivate more candidates to apply to your jobs. Even for those that got rejected from you in the past. Once you create a candidate experience that’s a priority, you’ll attract the best talent to your job openings with ease.
Ready to get started today? An advanced applicant tracking system, with its robust features, is trusted by businesses across scales to construct skillful workforces and engage top talent. By integrating AI and seamless integrations, this applicant tracking system promotes fair hiring practices, minimizing biases and enhancing the experience.
