In HR circles, the term ‘candidate experience has become very popular, which can be translated as the candidate’s impression or experience of recruitment. HR’s task is to conduct recruitment in such a way that candidates remember it as positively as possible.

Examples of good recruitment practices are:

The power of the first impression

The HR or recruiter is a kind of business card for the company and their behavior during the first meeting has a huge impact on the opinion of the company as a whole. Research conducted by LinkedIn shows that as many as 83% of those surveyed felt that negative impressions from a recruiter can change their opinion of a company they previously liked. On the other hand, 87% of them, acknowledged that a positive interview experience can make a candidate change their mind about a company they previously did not consider a good employer.

Personalized communication

It is important not to use templates. When sending a feedback message to a candidate, it is worth including their name and personalizing the content. It is much more likely that a candidate will reply to a message saying “Hi, Tom. I have reviewed your CV and I think your experience would be very useful in our company…” than “Dear candidate, you have been selected for the first stage of recruitment…”.

Use of feedback

In the communication process, it is useful to give feedback messages at each stage of the recruitment process. The candidate feels they are not wasting their time and the company comes off as very professional.

Professional invitation to the interview

It is important to ensure the comfort of the candidate, who is probably stressed anyway. In the message with the invitation to the interview, we should include the following details: name of the position, company, address [plus possibly a map of how to get there], date, names and positions of people involved in the recruitment process, contact information in case of changes, description of the form of the meeting [interview, task], description of the company as a place of work.

Questions from the candidate

During the interview, time should be set aside for questions from the candidate about the company, the team, or the future position.

Openness

During the interview the recruiter should be open to getting to know the candidate and should maintain a friendly atmosphere.