{"id":59144,"date":"2017-06-22T11:15:56","date_gmt":"2017-06-22T10:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bullhorn.com\/uk\/?p=59144"},"modified":"2019-03-01T21:17:04","modified_gmt":"2019-03-01T21:17:04","slug":"causes-bad-candidate-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bullhorn.com\/uk\/blog\/causes-bad-candidate-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"What Causes a Bad Candidate Experience?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the second of two articles that explores why candidate experience and candidate engagement are so crucial for recruitment agencies, what makes for a bad candidate experience, and how agencies can turn the tide and deliver a great candidate experience that drives business results. <\/span><\/i>Read part one<\/span><\/i><\/a>. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

A bad candidate experience is bad for business. It\u2019s also, at a human level, bad form and disrespectful of the person looking for employment. With candidates increasingly commenting on sites like Glassdoor, cutting corners with candidate experience can result in decreased referrals and social media problems that impact the recruiter and employer. And given that increasing profitability and driving revenue top recruitment companys’ priorities lists this year\u2014amidst an ongoing talent shortage\u2014it\u2019s no wonder why leading agencies are making some serious commitments to create great candidate experiences and engage candidates even better moving forward. <\/span><\/p>\n

Given the ongoing talent shortage, it\u2019s no surprise that candidates have become more demanding. But objectively, what they want isn\u2019t unreasonable. <\/span><\/p>\n

The candidate experiences begins\u00a0with the attraction and sourcing of talent. In this initial \u201cattract\u201d phase, candidates want to know the information they\u2019ll get reflects not only the work they\u2019ll do, but also the company and the environment in which they\u2019ll work, according to\u00a0Talent Board<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the recruiting process, candidates voice frustration with unclear application instructions and long applications. And they want more communication about the status of their application after it\u2019s been submitted. <\/span><\/p>\n

During the hiring process, candidates want to be prepared prior to interviews and know if they\u2019ll receive an offer after the interview, and if so, when. The lack of a feedback mechanism in the interview process and delayed or non-existent communications after a position\u2019s been filled are annoyances that consistently come up in candidate surveys. In fact, <\/span>lack of feedback and non-returned calls are among the biggest complaints candidates have about recruiters, according to<\/span> talent acquisition news source <\/span>ERE Media<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Failing to engage well with candidates throughout all of these phases can lead to a negative experience, but it goes beyond these phases. <\/span><\/p>\n

The number of interactions your recruiters have with candidates before they even speak about a specific job opportunity is significant, so shortcomings or gaps in that experience, or failing to engage effectively with both passive and active candidates, can close the door on a possible opportunity before a candidate even considers it.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Should You Do to Improve Candidate Engagement?<\/b><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s beyond the scope of an article to give you the full story on <\/span>how to improve your candidate engagement efforts<\/span><\/a>, but here are a few ideas to help get you started:<\/span><\/p>\n