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Negative Candidate Experience & What It Can Mean For Business

As we’ve discussed previously candidate experience is key to increasing engagement, communication and the overall relationship between the prospective employee and employer, before, during and after the hiring process.  According to Glassdoor increasing engagement can help organisations improve their quality of hires by 70%. But what happens when this isn’t so smooth and mistakes or a lack of care causes a negative candidate experience?

A negative candidate experience can…

Damage brand reputation

It can be argued an unhappy candidate is more likely to express their dissatisfied thoughts and opinions online and to those around them.

Negative experiences can be damaging to business. Frustrations and annoyance can be expressed freely and now to a much wider audience. Through online reviews or social media platforms, anybody with access to the internet can read their company perception. This can hinder a brand’s reputation and cause hesitance or reluctance from prospective candidates who consider applying for a future job role at a specific employer.

Cause candidate dropout

According to a CareerBuilder study, 60% of job seekers abandon online job applications once started, due to the length or its complexity. Difficult and confusing job applications will deter potentially great hires away from a job role. A hiring process that consists of multiple stages, various online tests or unclear application guidelines are likely to increase the dropout rate.

To avoid candidates dropping out, try simplifying your process and take out any unnecessary stages that provide little understanding and help to the potential candidate. Make it clear from the offset how to apply and the mandatory phases the job seeker will need to complete.

Create financial implications

In addition to affecting a company’s brand and hiring success – a negative candidate experience can create financial risks. A recent study by Software Advice shows that 63% of candidates will likely reject a job offer due to a bad candidate experience. This can cause additional financial strain on employers and recruiters who may have to restart the whole process again.

This means employers and recruiters will be required to spend more money on finding new talent. When already existing and possibly great employees could have been hired, if their hiring experience had been satisfactory.

Be time-consuming

If many applicants are receiving a negative experience, it means additional time and effort will need to be invested into transforming the current hiring strategy. In order to meet candidate expectations, discourage dropout rates and improve overall brand perception.

Spend extra time, increasing engagement, creating clearer hiring guidelines and developing a transparent strategy that’s inclusive to all possible and qualified candidates. If you prioritise their experience and make it a top concern it will save you more time by not having to restart the whole process again because candidates are abandoning their application or are either not accepting your job offer.

Whilst it’s tempting to cut corners and not spend a significant amount of time safeguarding the candidate experience – it will pay off in the long run, if you do make the candidate experience a top concern.

Final thoughts…

As we have mentioned above there are a few upsides to a negative candidate experience. And although it does require additional effort to maintain a high level of care throughout the hiring process, which can sometimes be difficult to achieve due to restricted budgets or time restraints – a happy candidate whether successful or unsuccessful is worth all the additional effort.

We want to hear your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter @CiiVSOFT.

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