How to Transform Your Candidate Experience for Today's Job Seekers

What is the future of the modern hiring landscape?

The hiring landscape and candidate experience have changed dramatically over the last few years. Hiring is moving toward a more holistic approach, with hiring managers evaluating candidates by how well they fit into the team and company culture, the strength of their existing skills and learning potential. Companies need to evolve in a competitive market to meet new demands from job seekers, like increased flexibility, remote work opportunities and life-work balance. Here, we share insights from Kforce original data to help you gain a competitive advantage by understanding the preferences and motivations of today's jobseekers.

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1. Focus on creating a streamlined, efficient hiring process

A long or overly complex hiring process is likely to make a candidate lose interest or form a negative opinion of your organization. To optimize your candidate experience, consider the following:

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2. Take advantage of virtual recruiting tools

With today's wide variety of virtual networking tools, recruiting from a wide pool of candidates has never been easier. Take advantage of virtual recruiting tools like social networking platforms, video interview software or online job boards. Job seekers are not only comfortable with, but in some cases prefer, a virtual interview and hiring process. Along with the rise of a preference for remote work, there has been a rise of preference for video interviews. Offering video interviews presents your organization as digitally competent and can also result in a wider candidate pool due to candidates not being restricted by location. Your organization should also consider the power of a strong corporate social presence. A targeted corporate social strategy can help give prospective candidates an impression of what it's like to work at your organization and keep your brand front-of-mind when openings do arise.

3. Optimize your onboarding process

65% of respondents believe it is most important to interact with other employees when starting a new role either during onboarding or during the interview process/pre-offer.

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What are today's candidates looking for?

In today's market, job seekers feel more empowered to voice their needs and expect respectful, considerate and open dialogue with their recruiter. Respondents in a Kforce survey of job seekers stated their preferred recruiter characteristics are:

Job seekers are also giving more thought not only to if they are right for the job, but if the job is right for them: 49% of respondents believe being a good fit for the role is most important when accepting a job offer. Competitive pay and flexibility also remain priorities for jobseekers: 47% of respondents said their top dealbreakers that would lead them to reject a job offer would be no flexibility and unfair compensation. The following data-driven insights will share what you and your team can do to optimize the hiring process and candidate experience for the modern age.

According to a Kforce survey:

Companies that want to remain competitive need to learn how to balance a thorough hiring process with an efficient one, or risk losing qualified candidates.

Learn more: Understanding the dangers of a drawn-out hiring process

open and honest

good communicator

explains all steps of the recruitment process

knowledgeable about prospective roles

respectful

An easy and straight forward application process matters most to 69% of respondents.

83% of respondents believe it should take 1-15 minutes to complete an application.

96% of respondents believe 1-3 pre-hire assessments is reasonable to complete during the application/interview process.

54% of respondents would consider an alternative job offer if not contacted between the time of offer and the first day on the job.

62% of respondents agreed that their experience during the onboarding process would influence their decision to stay with a company long term.

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98% of respondents are either comfortable or extremely comfortable with video interviews and expect it to be part of the interview process.

Kforce found that 62% of respondents prefer to communicate with a recruiter via email.

68% of respondents said they would participate in a social community for a company they are interested in working for, even if there are no current openings.

During the onboarding process, keep these statistics in mind:

In today’s market, candidate preferences and hiring practices are continuously evolving. By evolving with them, you will set your team and your business up for success.

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Even though you may not consider it as such, the time period between extending an offer and onboarding is still crucial to the hiring experience. Think of this time as a chance to solidify your candidate's impression of your organization, helping them to start off on the right foot. In today’s market, candidate preferences and hiring practices are continuously evolving. By evolving with them, you will set your team and your business up for success.

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