How to Measure Candidate Experience

In HR circles, candidate experience refers to the perception of candidates or applicants about their interaction with your company. People are more likely to share contrary perceptions, negatively impacting your talent pool. 

As a result, it is essential to measure a candidate's experience in recruitment if you are going to improve. This post will show you how to measure candidate experience plus critical KPIs, crucial in determining if candidates have a positive experience. 

How to measure candidate experience? 

The simplest way to measure a candidate's experience is by taking surveys along significant stages of the recruitment journey. The feedback you receive from these surveys is a clear indicator of how candidates feel about your company. 

By following the steps below, you can be sure of proper feedback at each stage: 

• Map the entire candidate's journey from the application, screening, interview, and job offer. Do not forget those who drop out and those who are rejected during your mapping. Also, how long does it take between each stage? 
• Set goals: You are collecting feedback to create a positive candidate experience. For each step, decide what you want to achieve. 
• Finally, depending on your goals set the questions you will include in your candidate experience surveys. Ensure the survey is concise.
   
  
  

Candidate experience survey sample questions

When measuring the candidate experience for the metrics below, it's common to use surveys or questionnaires. Below are some common candidate experience survey questions you should be asking.

• What position or role did you interview for?
• Describe the interview process at our company?
• How would you describe the communication between you and your recruiter?
• How consistent was the job description with what was presented to you during the interview process?
• Were your interviewers prepared for your interviews?
• What would you do to make the hiring process better?

Measuring candidate experience: Candidate experience metrics

The three major stages of the recruitment journey are all crucial to ensuring a positive candidate experience. The following metrics will help you measure candidate experience. 

1. Pre-candidate experience

It would be best to evaluate whether the platforms you are using to source your clients are working. Find out how the recruiters attracted the candidates to your company. Is it your web content or social media presence? 

From the feedback you get, you can decide on what to keep and what should go. Also, make sure to find out the why behind what's not working. 

2. Candidate drop-off 

At every stage of the journey, you want to find out the reason behind the candidate drop-off. Is the process too long, or is it because of the recruiters? 

Another reason may be a complicated ATS-powered application. If the time is too long, work on reducing it by promptly following up on candidates' applications. Including a progress bar will show candidates how long they have to finish the application. 

3. Time to fill 

If you take too long between application and placement, there is a high probability you will lose candidates to the competition. Finding out how your candidates feel about this time helps improve it while maintaining quality. 

4. Career portal visitor statistics 

Is your career portal serving your candidates? It can tell you the bounce rate, the drop-off rate, and device preference. Focus on mobile, as almost half of the job seekers use mobile devices to search for jobs at least once a day. 

A different process for mobile applications will solve most of the problems, while an ATS application that integrates properly like Crosschq Recruit ensures candidates don't end up as victims of an ATS black hole. 

5. Overall candidate satisfaction rating 

If your candidates are satisfied, they will be willing to recommend your company to others. The two go hand-in-hand. The candidates' NPS scores will give you a clear picture of the overall candidates' satisfaction. 

When one of these metrics improves, the rest follow since they are all interconnected. Once you receive the results of the surveys, they need to be analyzed and appropriately used to improve candidate experience. 

Automating the entire recruitment journey makes for a great candidate experience. Talk to our team of experts to see how Crosschq can help you improve your overall candidate experience today.