In some of our previous blogs, we’ve talked enough about providing a positive candidate experience and how it has become a crucial strategy to win the war of talent in today’s competitive job market.
Job seekers nowadays are more aware than ever before.
A positive candidate experience consisting of authentic communication will help attract talented candidates to open positions.
If you neglect your candidate experience, you miss out on a golden opportunity to develop your employer brand and work culture.
Whether a candidate ends up being hired or not, their journey with your organization will leave a lasting impression.
To help you optimize your candidate experience journey, here are some crucial statistics highlighting its importance!
20+ Key candidate experience stats that’ll compel you to take action
Candidate experience is crucial for employer branding!
In the age of social platforms, sharing an opinion has become easier than ever. A simple social media post or a review can showcase your organization’s culture.
Conversely, providing a negative candidate experience will reflect poorly on your employer brand, putting you at a disadvantage over competitors.
Read more: Positive candidate experience and organizational culture.
2. 70% of candidates do their research before applying to a company. (Source: LinkedIn)
A vast majority of candidates will study your organization before they apply.
Candidates will be looking at your website, LinkedIn page, reviews, and social media before submitting their application and resume.
Ensure your website and social media handles are up to date and contain valuable and relevant information for job seekers.
3. 58% of job seekers had declined a job offer due to poor experience. (Source: CareerPlug)
A positive candidate experience is essential to attracting top talent in today’s candidate-centric job market.
How a candidate feels about their hiring journey can significantly influence their decision to accept a job offer.
Moreover, with increasing competition in the job market, employers cannot miss out on talent over a negative candidate experience.
Read more: 8 effective recruiters must possess to deliver the best candidate experience.
4. 1 in 3 (32%) job seekers would not apply for a company that lacks diversity. (Source: Glassdoor)
Diversity and representation have become a hot topic in the job market in recent years.
Today’s job seekers expect diverse and inclusive hiring practices from their employers; therefore, make sure you implement the best practices for candidates irrespective of their gender, sexual orientation, race, etc.
5. 63% of candidates are dissatisfied with the communication from employers after applying. (Source: Talentegy)
Lack of communication often remains a common complaint by candidates. However, communication is a process that can easily be simplified and automated through an Applicant Tracking System.
Automate your communication with candidates to keep them updated. This shows how your organization values each candidate.
Read more: 5 tools that’ll help recruiters provide the best candidate experience.
6. Companies that took the time to develop a positive candidate hiring experience reported a 70% improvement in the quality of hires. (Source: Glassdoor)
Candidates who receive a positive candidate experience are more likely to be satisfied with an organization, increasing retention and loyalty.
Ultimately, satisfied new hires will be more productive, bringing better performance results.
7. 60% of job seekers quit an application in the middle due to its length or complexity. (Source: SHRM)
Instead of long and complex applications, use brief questionnaires to optimize the hiring process.
In addition, make sure your application is mobile-friendly to provide a smooth experience for candidates. Talented candidates have plenty of choices in the job market, and they won’t jump through hoops to apply!
8. 83% of candidates say a negative interview experience can change their minds about a role or company they once liked. In comparison, 87% say a positive interview experience can change their minds about a previously doubted role or company. (Source: LinkedIn)
Candidate experience has the power to win or lose you great talent! Something as little as providing consistent communication and following basic etiquette can significantly influence a candidate’s opinion about your organization. Keep this in mind the next time you interact with candidates.
9. 81% of job seekers expect the hiring process to wrap up in two weeks. (Source: Yello)
A lengthy recruitment process is a huge pain point for candidates. There is an apparent mismatch between the expectations of the candidates about the length of the recruitment processes.
It’s essential to manage these expectations by keeping candidates informed about each stage of the process. To keep candidates interested, keep them engaged through updates and even content through social media.
10. Only 42% of employers reach out to declined candidates with information on future job opportunities. (Source: CareerArc)
One of the biggest mistakes made by recruiters is neglecting their existing pool of talent. Instead of reaching out to new candidates for each new job opening, reach out to previous candidates who may still be interested.
Re-discovering old candidates will save tremendous time and bring better candidate quality.
11. 82% consider employer brand and reputation before applying for a job, a 7% increase in the past five years. (Source: CareerArc)
As the job market becomes more competitive than ever before, job seekers emphasize a positive employer brand and work culture when applying to jobs.
Candidate experience and employer branding go hand in hand, so make sure you treat this with high priority.
12. 56% of job applicants encountered a technical issue during the application process, and only 18.7% said they were offered help online via chat or feedback tools. (Source: Talentegy)
Remote hiring practices are being adopted as the new standard worldwide. It is essential to acknowledge the technical issues to implement remote practices effectively.
Provide the best remote candidate experience to your candidates by informing them of any errors that may occur and how to resolve them.
13. 48% of candidates respond positively to receiving interview information ahead of time. (Source: LinkedIn)
All candidates expect clear and consistent communication to perform well. Being transparent with your candidates shows that you value their time and are willing to set them up for success.
Consider informing candidates about how the interview process will look, who they will be speaking to, and the duration.
14. 63% of candidates are dissatisfied with communication from most employers. (Source: Toolbox HR)
Consistent and clear communication makes all the difference in providing a stellar candidate experience.
Recruiters can maintain communication by reaching out to candidates during each phase of the process—establishing a solid connection.
Take this a step further by providing guidance and resources such as a FAQ guide, technology checklists, and tips for interviewing.
This will set clear expectations and create a lasting impression on candidates.
15. 93% of job seekers would like to be informed about the company culture, values, mission, and plans before accepting a job offer. (Source: Glassdoor)
Company culture ranks as one of the top factors influencing a candidate’s decision to accept a job offer—especially for the Millennial and Gen Z audience.
So it’s clear that to attract up-and-coming talent, companies must build a community to convey their culture and values.
Recruiters can easily do this by sharpening your website and social media handles.
16. 53% of job seekers care more about the hiring process experience now than they did before the COVID-19 pandemic. (Source: CareerPlug)
The pandemic brought many unprecedented changes to the workforce and changed the expectations of job seekers.
Today’s job seekers demand more flexibility and remote options from employers when applying for an open position.
Traditional hiring practices will not be relevant with the changing landscape and cutthroat competition. Therefore, optimize your hiring process to serve the needs of candidates today.
17. Nearly 25% more job seekers prefer live video interviews to in-person interviews. (Source: Forbes)
Given the current situation with the pandemic, remote working practices have taken over traditional practices.
Moreover, video interviews eliminate commuting, save time and provide a level of flexibility, making them easy to conduct. With so many benefits to video interviews, now is the best time to replace traditional in-person interviews with this alternative.
Read more: Types of hiring biases & how to reduce them.
18. Candidates are 4x more likely to consider a company for future opportunities if provided thoughtful feedback. (Source: LinkedIn)
Candidates are often left in the dark, which needs to change. Providing constructive feedback to candidates can be challenging, but sharing positive interview feedback can reflect well on your candidate experience.
After all, candidate experience is all about communication. Where communication lacks, so does your candidate experience.
19. 52% of candidates have to wait for 3 months or more on a response. (Source: Talent Board)
If agency recruiters take more than 3 months to get back to candidates, it merely points out how they don’t respect a candidate’s time and effort.
The faster you get back to a candidate with feedback and the more streamlined you keep your communication, the better the candidate experience.
20. 65% of Millennials value company culture compared to 52% of people 45 and older. (Source: Glassdoor)
Company culture is a vital factor for job seekers today. Unfortunately, many employees leave their current jobs due to a misalignment of workplace culture. For companies fighting for talent today, this highlights the importance of defining their values and representing their company culture.
21. 25% of the candidates receive no preparation at all before they come for a job interview. (Source: Talent Board)
It’s essential for recruiters to prepare their candidates well before job interviews. It does not just leave a positive effect on candidate experience but also a lasting impression on your recruitment agency in front of your clients.
A negative candidate experience is just really an operations issue. If your recruitment agency is unable to streamline and automate hiring processes, you’ll be unable to take care of your candidates properly.
We’ve, in fact, written a detailed guide on what it takes to provide a stellar candidate experience.
In case you come across other interesting candidate experience stats, don’t forget to write them down below.
