10 pitfalls which could create a bad candidate experience

Discover the best methods for creating a great candidate experience and the ten things you should avoid during the hiring process to ensure you retain the top tech talent.

Providing a great candidate experience can mean the difference between hiring the best tech candidates on the market and losing them to competitor companies.

Carry on reading to find out how you can maximise your chances of hiring your top choices and minimise your chances of creating a negative and low-yield application process.

How to create a great candidate experience

Ultimately, the best candidate experience is one which results in a smooth conversion of your top applicants into new employees.

To attract the very best applicants and keep them interested in your vacancies, you must provide all candidates with an enjoyable and rewarding application process from start to finish.

Whether you’re in the process of uploading a job advert, conducting interviews or onboarding a successful candidate, every touch point needs to be well-refined and fit for purpose to meet modern-day expectations.

To ensure you do this, make sure you don’t make any of these candidate experience mistakes:

Mistakes which could contribute to a bad candidate experience

1. A poor website

Your careers page is likely to be the first thing an applicant sees. To make sure they take the next step and send in their application, you need to make sure your site is inviting and easy to navigate.

Give applicants the best shot at understanding your company’s key selling points by promoting your values and including positive testimonials from current team members. The more human your approach, the more likely candidates are to feel invited to apply to your company.

2. An uninspiring job description

If you want to attract the crème de la crème of candidates, you need to create job descriptions that stand out from competitors. The top tech candidates will likely have their fair share of opportunities, so your job description needs to appeal to them from the get-go.

Use compelling hooks in your job specs and give candidates the information they want most. Applicants want to know what a role consists of day-to-day, the salary range, the working model, company perks, and the qualifications and skills required to apply. Anything beyond this is a bonus.

3. Asking for too much

If you want candidates to complete the application process, don’t overcomplicate it. The more effort your application process requires, and the more time candidates are asked to spend on it, the less likely they are to complete it.

Streamline the experience by only requesting the information you need, including their name, contact details, salary expectations and CV. If you want more from your candidates, make a cover letter optional or ask for more details at a later stage once the candidate is more invested in the process.

4. Sporadic and unclear communication

First things first, don’t make candidates wait too long to find out whether they are invited to interview. Keep in contact with them throughout the process.

When you do invite them to interview, show your accessibility. Give the candidate options for interview times so that you can collaborate to find a mutually beneficial arrangement. Be considerate that most candidates will be working out a notice period in another job and many will need advance notice of the interview.

You should also keep candidates engaged and informed by letting them know what they can expect from the interview process. Give them the interviewers’ names, the length of the interview, and the location and time.

Depending on your preferences or the job requirements, you may choose to give candidates preparatory materials to aid them in the interview.

5. Lack of inclusivity

Your candidate experience needs to be inviting and inclusive from the very beginning. If you are not using inclusive language in your application or onboarding materials, you might be scaring off great candidates before they have even begun the process.

6. Lack of personality

At each point of the application process, you need to stand out to your candidates as the top choice of employer. Now, more than ever, candidates want to know about the people behind the company, so show them the kind of people you are!

If you keep things too black and white – for example if your job description only states the requirements and Ts & Cs of the job – the candidate won’t have much to go on and is unlikely to be excited at the prospect of applying.

7. Inconsistency of any kind

To keep top candidates continually engaged in your hiring process, you need to be consistent and accurate at every stage.

If you send out emails containing grammatical errors or spelling mistakes, you are setting yourself up for failure. Similarly, maintain accuracy with tech-specific language and statements. Top candidates will likely be attuned to these things and may doubt your company’s credibility or quality if you make errors.

8. Not training your interviewers

The interviewer is a representation of your company. If they lack interviewing experience or don’t align with your company’s priorities, candidates might be put off from pursuing the job further.

Interviewers must provide a structured and well-devised interview that impresses and engages the candidate. Remember, the interview is not only a chance for the company to decide whether the candidate is the right choice for them, but it is also the candidate’s opportunity to decide if they would like to work there.

9. Running a virtual onboarding

Although the option to run things virtually is advantageous in many situations, if the onboarding process is entirely virtual, you are likely to create a disconnect between your company and your candidates.

You need to find the balance. The only way you can give a candidate a real feel for your company is to have an engaging onboarding experience that is at least partly in-person. Once a candidate has settled into their role and built relationships with other team members, it will be easier for them to succeed with virtual interactions.

10. Forgetting to utilise social media

In this day and age, tech companies should know that social media is an essential tool for reaching high-quality candidates.

Not only will promoting your job vacancies on social media increase your chances of reaching more great candidates, but it will also demonstrate to candidates that your company is more adaptable than companies that are still solely relying on job sites.

Get your candidate experience right from the start

There’s not much room for error when it comes to creating a great candidate experience, which is why it is so important to get it right from the very start.

If you are unsure how to guarantee the best experience for your candidates, it might be time to call in the experts.

Here at Revoco, we know how to attract and hire the very best tech talent. With our bespoke recruitment tools and insights technology, we have everything you need to develop a positive candidate experience that helps you retain the best candidates.

Get in touch today to find out more.