Written by Mairead Simons

Your recruitment process and the experience that candidates have during this process have a large impact on both your company’s reputation and your employer branding. Poor company reputation is probably one of the easiest ways to deter potential talent, so its vital to make sure your company shines throughout the process in order to avoid this.

With websites like Glassdoor readily available for candidates to view, news of a poor interviewing process and therefore a bad reputation can spread very quickly. Plenty of candidates would avoid a company if word was to get back to them that other candidates had not had a positive experience with them. About 50% of candidates read company reviews so it’s very important that your company has good ones!

One of the easiest ways to leave candidates with a bad taste in their mouth is through the layout of your interview process. Recruitment consultants can help to smooth this process however drawn-out interview stages - too many interviews set over a long period of time -can really make a candidates experience a far less positive one. Showing you value a candidate’s time by not inviting them to endless interviews is a good way to improve candidate experience. Hiring managers should also be mindful of the format of individual interviews, disorganised interviews are bound to leave a bad impression and can very quickly persuade candidates that your company is not the one for them. Preparation is key – hiring managers should take the time to both read the candidates CV thoroughly and pre-plan important questions ready for the candidate to arrive.

A positive candidate experience should not stop at the point of hire, onboarding is a key part of the candidate experience. Even once your ideal candidate has accepted the role and is looking to start, its important not to let standards slip. Onboarding processes should be easy to follow and for the sake of the candidate, they should have plenty of contact from their future employer throughout.