A positive candidate experience is one of the most critical components to a company’s recruiting strategy. It starts with the first contact, and ends after the interview process is completed, regardless if it ends after the phone screen/interview or offer stage.

Here are some suggestions on how to best achieve a positive candidate experience:

• From the first contact all communications must be professional, whether it’s a phone call, email, LinkedIn, Facebook message, tweet, etc.
• Once in contact set expectations by outlining the interview process, i.e. “If the phone interview goes well, this will be the next step, and so on.”
• Create a succinct interview process that is standardized across the organization.
  • Pre-set interview teams where each interviewer understands which areas/competencies they are responsible for evaluating.  This ensures every interviewer is not asking the same questions.
  • Interviewers understand the interview process is a two-way street – they need to evaluate the candidate, but the candidate is also evaluating the company.
  • Interviewers are ALWAYS in “sell” mode.  They’re responsible for selling the candidate regardless if half way through the interview, they know the person is not a fit.  It’s important they understand the long term affect and value of taking that opportunity to personally sell an individual on what their company is all about.  Every candidate is a potential customer.
• Always keep the candidate updated with feedback at each stage of the process.
• If the person is not a fit, tell them in a timely manner…do not procrastinate.

When you create a thoughtful candidate experience, you positively affect and help to build and establish your company brand. Since we live in a society where information travels quickly via social media and many other mediums, this is an ideal opportunity for your company to influence what people say. A candidate’s interview experience has a ripple effect for many parts of your business, you have an opportunity to make it a positive one.