Securing top talent isn’t about a single moment in the hiring journey; it’s about the entire candidate experience and whether candidates—successful or not—walk away feeling positive about their interactions with your institution. Proactive communication, a mutual sense of respect, and personalized attention can elevate your institution and help you gain a reputation as somewhere that top talent wants to work.
Looking for ways to improve the design of your candidate experience? Here’s what to consider.
Developing a Quality, Personal Experience
How would candidates describe their experiences with your institution? If words like smooth, knowledgeable, communicative, and individualized are on the list, you’re on the right track.
According to a 2023 study by ERE Media, over the last decade, only about 26% of job candidates say they had a ‘great’ experience during the process. Candidate ‘resentment’ about a poor experience, meanwhile, ticked up to 13% among North American respondents. What are the top three reasons why candidates withdrew themselves from consideration? 1. My time was disrespected during the recruiting process. 2. Salary didn’t meet expectations. 3. The recruiting process took too long.
A lack of feedback is one of the biggest factors in a negative candidate experience – and one of the easiest to improve upon and personalize. ERE Media’s report found that 74% of employers said they ask for feedback after a candidate is hired, while 50% give limited feedback to internal candidates, 33% to referral candidates, and just 17% to external candidates. Put another way, candidates want to be treated like valued individuals, whether they get hired or not.
Your external-facing reputation can also impact a candidate’s experience. Potential Park’s 2024 careers site study reported that over 40% of US candidates have seen information on a career website they felt was not credible. If your website looks outdated or unprofessional, that can reflect poorly on you and potentially turn off top talent.
The following are a few things you can do to ensure your candidate experience is smooth and appropriately individualized:
- Be sure you have defined parameters for the job before hiring. A lack of clarity is frustrating.
- Write clear, relevant job descriptions.
- Have a streamlined application system and technical experience.
- Move the process along promptly and communicate proactively.
- Personalize communications along the way.
- Recognize why a candidate is currently searching and meet them where they are.
- Be personal, warm, and respectful, via email and in person.
- Ask for feedback and use it.
Strike a Balance with Tech
In today’s fast-advancing world, it’s easy to think that advanced HR technologies will solve your candidate experience issues. In reality, it’s much more critical to seek a balanced approach.
As discussed above, candidates want a streamlined, simple, intuitive process for applying and managing the job search process. What they don’t want, however, is for that process to become too impersonal. This can be a particular concern when AI automation enters the picture, promising to remove the need for many human interaction touchstones.
Near’s ‘State of HR Tech’ report found that 82% of current job seekers are frustrated when they encounter overly automated processes. Even more, 87%, say they think technology developments have made job searching more impersonal. While AI and similar tools can seem like boons to overworked hiring teams, the reality is more complex, and while they may be helpful to the hiring process, they can damage the outcomes.
Consider integrating AI and other advanced technology to streamline the basic parts of the process. This could include simplified resume screening, initial contacts, calendar scheduling, and so on. Don’t rely on AI for serious decision-making, and limit how many points in the candidate journey require them to interact with clearly non-human elements. That way, you can reap the efficiency benefits of technology without removing the personal touch that makes candidates want to work for you.
Demystifying the Search Committee
For roles in higher education, the candidate experience includes an extra complicating factor: the search committee. Facing a search committee can be intimidating, even for the most seasoned candidates, and it can throw off prospects who aren’t as used to the process. Dealing with the committee can also slow the process on the search side, which, in turn, impacts the candidate experience. Frustration with long timelines is a common complaint across sectors, but it’s heightened in higher education.
It’s also worth noting that conversations about compensation may differ in higher education from those in corporate sectors. There may not be much room for salary negotiations; indeed, with some tightly budgeted institutions, there may be zero negotiation room. An experienced recruiter from a search firm, like Blue Rock Search, can help smooth the process and ensure communication on both sides. When everyone comes to the table with a clear understanding of what to expect, the results are much likelier to be successful, both in terms of identifying the right fit for the role and providing a great experience for all candidates.
How Recruiters Can Help
Designing and maintaining great candidate experiences are just two of the many ways experienced executive recruiters can help your team. Essentially, you are paying professional recruiters because they have the time to do what you cannot. Recruiters are trained to ensure the candidate experience is everything you want to protect your brand. They can enhance the personal touch, getting to know the candidates before they land in front of you for interviews. They can find out why candidates are looking for a change, what they value in their work life, and what they’re interested in doing with their careers in the short- and long-terms. In turn, this information allows your team to better tailor your ‘pitch’ during the interview.
In some ways, you can think of a recruiter almost like a matchmaker between the institution and the candidate! An effective recruiter emphasizes how your institution aligns with the candidate’s goals, dreams, and plans, better ensuring a long-term good fit. Recruiters can also help provide that much-needed personal experience, without taking up the valuable time and resources of your existing internal team.
Even in today’s competitive higher education landscape, institutions can elevate their abilities to land top talent by crafting responsive, thoughtful, and positive candidate experiences. In turn, building that reputation can attract even more great talent in the future, creating a self-perpetuating and very positive cycle. With a perfect candidate satisfaction rating of 100% across candidate surveys in higher education, Blue Rock Search and our team of experienced executive recruiters are here to help! Contact us to learn more.
About the Author
Dr. Elliott is a Higher Education subject matter expert across multiple functions, including Strategic Enrollment Management, Financial Aid, Institutional Advancement, Student Life and Retention, and Academic Affairs. Dr. Elliott brings to the table a unique understanding of an institution’s need for specialized talent and the candidate’s desire to affect positive change. She has worked with more than 200 schools across the globe in a consulting capacity and has coached countless cabinet-level executives on strategy, job placement, meeting enrollment, net tuition, fundraising goals, and faculty development and training.