Employment Office | Candidate Care Strategies

Candidate care is an important aspect of recruitment that needs to be handled thoughtfully and deliberately. You need to be straightforward, but still considerate of your talent pool as individuals.

Candidate care is the respect, time and way you interact with your job candidates. Candidate care is critical in today’s talent market, as it has long-term impact on your ability to attract the best people. (Bad first impressions can be almost impossible to recover from!)

Candidate care starts the moment you write and post your position description, and it extends throughout your hiring process, right through to when you and the candidate decide to part ways. Candidate care is always important, whether you offer candidates the role, or not.

Candidate care isn’t just a “thank you” gift to applicants. If you leave a candidate waiting at reception, re-ask the same questions they’ve answered three times before, go into meetings unprepared, reschedule at the last minute … twice, or fail to get back to them in a timely manner, there’s very little that will change your candidate’s negative impression of your organisation.

Here are Employment Office’s top tips for optimising candidate care to leave a positive impression on all your candidates.

Use great communication

When recruiting to fill a vacancy, it’s easy to make your primary focus the top candidate you’re looking to hire. But what about the remainder of your talent pool who took the time and effort to apply?

For applicants who are ineligible due to their location, salary expectations or other reasons, you may choose to notify them within the first week or two that they have been unsuccessful in a simple, straightforward email, thanking them for their time. Candidates much rather receiving unsuccessful feedback than hearing nothing at all. Not to mention, candidates may contact you regarding the status of their application, which can end up being more time-consuming for you.

For those who have passed your initial screening questions or whose applications you are still considering, a simple email at the two or three week mark to let them know that you are still reviewing applications is another great way to use communication to keep your candidates informed.

For those who have progressed to the later stages of the process but have been unsuccessful, take them time to give them a personalised phone call. If you don’t reach them over the phone, leave them a voicemail message and follow up with an email. While an email for those in the early stages is adequate, for candidates who have progressed and taken time out their days to participate in interviews and other screening activities, a phone call is the best way build good relationships and strengthen your brand image. Who knows? This simple gesture may encourage them to apply for another role in the future for which they are an even better fit.

A strong candidate management system will enable you to sort applications and bulk email candidates with easy templates to deliver unsuccessful feedback, invite candidates for interviews and more. That way, good communication doesn’t require a hefty time investment.

Keep your talent pool engaged

Just because candidates don’t meet the requirements of a role you are advertising, doesn’t mean they won’t be suitable for other roles, or may be suitable after they gain more experience in the future.

Engage your talent pool by giving unsuccessful candidates an attractive call to action. Encourage them to apply for other roles, sign up to be notified of future opportunities or follow your organisation on social media.

By engaging your talent pool, you will strengthen your employer brand and increase the chances of better quality applications in the future (from candidates who feel positively about your brand!).

Provide feedback

If your candidates have made it to the final stages of the process, it is important to provide them with feedback as to why they haven’t progressed further. Candidates can feel disheartened making it to the final stages and not receiving the role, which can feel worse if they are not provided with any feedback as to why they were not chosen.

By reaching out to them with a personalised phone call, thanking them for their time and providing some brief feedback, you will deliver a positive brand experience to your candidates. It might be that they were a great fit for the role, however, the top applicant simply had an additional qualification or skill which made them stand out, which can encourage them to apply for another role in the future.

Feedback is an essential part of candidate care. LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends report states 94% of candidates want interview feedback, but only 41% receive it. The report states, ‘Talent is 4x more likely to consider your company for future opportunity when you offer them constructive feedback’.

Employment Office’s Shortlisting and Selection specialists are experts in candidate care and can deliver unsuccessful notifications and provide feedback on your behalf, representing your organisation with the utmost professionalism.

To find out more about how Employment Office can improve candidate care in your organisation, contact us on 1300 366 573.