How to deliver a high-touch candidate experience when recruiting at scale

We get it, it's difficult but the need to pivot and focus on hiring efficiently for the future comes to the forefront. This can be especially challenging for companies who are hiring in volume, and trying to establish an efficient process but also one that promotes a high quality candidate experience. 

So, how can TA teams, such as yours, begin to tackle this challenge and create a high-touch high volume recruitment process that delights applicants? Read our 10 ideas to improve each candidate touch point throughout the hiring process, and learn how to provide a red carpet candidate experience for all candidates who apply to your company.

#1 Audit your online presence

The first touchpoint with candidates is often the career site or social media whether it be LinkedIn or Instagram or your company website. Ensure you have a seamless, authentic online presence that doesn't oversell what your company has to offer. Be honest, show genuine employee experiences, careers and imagery. Ensure your employer brand messaging and imagery is identifiable and consistent on each channel. One channel should complement the next and all together create an image of the company that is unique, recognisable and consistent.

#2 Review and optimise your job postings

Are you trying to attract high quality candidates with long, boring job ads written by your legal team? What is it about these ads that gets your potential applicants fired up to come work with you? The answer: nothing. Find a healthy balance between "too much" and "too little" information. The former may appear overwhelming, whereas the latter may appear uninteresting. Of course, you want to inform your candidates about everything they will do in their potential new job, but keep in mind that they possibly won’t spend hours scrolling through unnecessary information. Keep the language clear, simple, concise and to the point. 

#3 Make your application process simple

Put yourself in the candidate's shoes. You've discovered a great job and want to apply, but then the dilemma begins: pages and pages of resume data are required, which must be copied and pasted into fields in each section. There is no way to parse information from the resume or just upload the resume. If your application process is long and tedious, candidates will be quick to lose interest and consider other opportunities instead. 

Ask the question - what would this look like if it were simple? At this stage, all you really need to ask for with the initial application is general contact and background information. This is their name, email address, telephone number and CV. Supplementary information can be gathered during the later stages in the process. 

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Looking to really move the dial in delivering an exceptional candidate experience? Download our guide to creating a celebrity candidate experience here. 

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#4 Be human, have a designated contact person

Behind every job posting is a HR manager looking for the best person to fill an open role, so it's important to keep the human element throughout the entire process. Humans respond to other humans. Include a contact person in the job advertisement and have a central point of contact for all candidates in the process for any questions or queries that arise. There are likely to be a number of people involved during the process: hiring managers, team members, executives, etc and its always good to give this information to the candidate early on. Applicants will be able to see the people involved in the process and potentially have a better indication of the type of people in the organisation and who they will be working with in the future.  

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#5 Make a hiring process communications rulebook

We recommend establishing an internal communications rule book for the hiring process. Include time frame response rules for each phase of the application process, e.g. an overarching 24 hour response time across each phase of the process. It could also be an idea to provide guidance on company tone and messaging ideals for each stage of the process.You could conduct a scenario plan exercise to ensure that attention is paid to the employer brand tone prevalent across all communication channel, no matter what situation crops up during the hiring process.

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#6 Be transparent about the application process

It’s best to discuss the subsequent steps in the process transparently during the initial conversation with the candidate. Numerous steps in the process, such as three rounds of interviews, meeting three employees and one manager, a personality test, and reference checks might all be overwhelming for the candidate. Guide candidates throughout the process to make it feel less nerve-wracking for them. Empower them throughout the process and provide them with tips for success, and what to expect at each stage of the process. 

#7 Communicate like a human

There’s always the risk of sounding hollow and like a bot when you use ‘one-size-fits-all’ email templates for different stages of the hiring process. Opt for messages that mirror your company’s employer brand tone and style, and are similar to human face-to-face conversations. Its so important to say thank you to the candidate who in many cases, will have invested a significant amount of time in the process. Invite them to apply again if they meet the criteria, and make any candidate rejection emails empathetic, thoughtful, and leave with a positive impression of the company.

#8 Use tech to help eliminate steps in your high volume hiring process

From one click syncing of multiple calendars at interview stage, to ensuring offer letters are tracked online via esignature features, auto rejecting multiple candidates with one-click, the right ATS system can make a big difference to your high volume hiring process.

For instance, Occupop ATS System for volume hiring allows you to move quickly through the many different stages of the hiring process while tracking everything in real time across each step, all in one central place. Using a recruitment software such as this can help streamline and save you time throughout the entire recruitment process:

• An ATS software ensures that the entire hiring team always has an overview of the current candidate pipeline and what stage each one is at.
• An ATS synced with your email and calendars makes it easy to reach out to multiple candidates and bulk schedule interviews to suit all parties.
• Implement interfaces with your ATS i.e. E-signature feature hiring managers can request digital signatures for work contracts right within the system and make the manual paper route of offer acceptance, a thing of the past.
• Hiring managers can quickly assess candidates within the ATS and all involved in the process can move forward through the process faster. Feedback on each candidate is quick, done in one-click and transparent.

By using a recruitment management software, the TA team are no longer buried in administrational work but can focus on the more important things, like your people. 

#9 Always ask for feedback 

How are we doing? After going through the hiring process, candidates are the ultimate source for information for TA leaders looking to improve on the current health of the overall candidate experience in the hiring process. Craft surveys and data collection for various candidates and use their honest feedback for tweaking and enriching your hiring process. While online surveys can be great for overall sentiment check, a phone call may give additional probing opportunities and in many cases more honest recommendations for hiring managers. A combination of the two methodologies can be very powerful. 

#10 It doesn’t stop when the contract is signed

Don't allow your efforts to create a fantastic candidate experience end when the contract is signed. Increase your attention on candidate onboarding and the transition from candidate to employee. This time between the candidate signing the contract and beginning at the company is frequently overlooked. Stay in touch and ensure that a positive candidate experience leads to an even better employee experience - from day one.

In summary

The hiring process reflects directly on your company. A pleasant experience opens the door to future referrals and the chance to employ the best people and build great teams. We now live in a world where the best candidates have several options for where and how they can work. You want to make sure they choose yours. The experience is crucial, and even small, simple things that wow a candidate may be significant differentiators in recruiting and winning over top talent.

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