8 Ways You Can Improve Your Hiring Experience

Your company’s ability to grow and scale is tied to your ability to attract, onboard, and retain top talent. And your hiring experience matters. As you carve out goals and objectives for the remainder of this year and prepare for a growth path in 2024, consider analyzing your current hiring process. Then, tap into these insights and methods for improving your hiring experience and results.

Recognize Why a Great Hiring Experience Is Important

Hiring these days is challenging. Competition is fierce as the most talented individuals seek out the best companies. And your methods for attracting them have to stand out from the rest. A recent IBM report suggested that those candidates who have a positive hiring experience are 38% more likely to accept the job offer. 

It’s the experience, including the application process, the communications, and the interviewing methods, that make the difference. The better your hiring teams are at executing a positive candidate experience, the better your results will be. And it starts with prioritizing the experience and redefining your official hiring process. 

Application Process

Look for ways to streamline your application process. Consider crafting more transparent job descriptions to eliminate wrong-fit candidates. Be precise in your application about requesting information that isn’t already present on the resume. And make every effort to make it a seamless digital experience to complete and submit your company application.

Resume Screening

Drill down on your current process for screening resumes. Look at what your hiring managers are placing the most value on with each candidate. And verify that those metrics are still valid in your current state of operations. Use this list of factors as inspiration for exploring ways to streamline and improve your applicant screening values.

• Job Experience
• Educational Experience
• Soft and Hard Skills
• Formatting and Applicant Submission Direction

It’s also suggested that you adopt a coordinated rating or scoring system for resumes received. And a great applicant tracking system (ATS) can be instrumental in sifting through resumes fairly.

Candidate Communications

Another way to improve your hiring experience is to adopt methods for more efficient candidate communication. Applicants who are constantly informed about their status and your process will have a better experience. For example, share when the application is received, considerations are in progress, and candidate shortlists are created.

And your process should include a thorough method for the what, when, and how you communicate. 

• Map out your applicant communication touchpoints.
• Be transparent about communicating process timelines.
• Share regular updates about the candidate’s status.
• Ensure you’re answering all the candidates’ questions.
• Personalize your communications to each applicant.
• Use email, text, and phone calls for communications.
• Always ask for applicant feedback.

In-Person Interviews

One of the most frustrating aspects of the hiring experience for candidates is the interview phase. Whether you’re conducting your company’s interviews in person or virtually, take time to analyze how effective and positive your interviewing processes are. Consider these improvements and suggestions to make this step more impactful for you and your applicants.

• Involve more than one interviewer during the interview process.
• Keep your interviewing process to a two-week turnaround time or less.
• Get team leaders involved in the interviewing process for better on-the-job insights.
• Make sure your interview questions are providing value to the evaluation process.
• Provide candidates with opportunities to ask questions.
• Communicate the next steps and timelines honestly.
• Ask for feedback and areas of improvement.

Reference and Background Checks

Streamline your candidate hiring experience by cutting down on the time it takes to properly vet them. This includes any additional steps in your hiring procedure relating to skills testing, employee assessments, reference calling, and background checks. When these elements take too long to execute, applicants begin to feel interview fatigue. Don’t eliminate these necessities, though. Instead, consider these insights for making these steps more efficient and less time-consuming:

• Choose the best-fit screening providers.
• Leverage every available opportunity for online execution.
• Create deadlines for completing these tasks.
• Communicate the results as the tasks are completed.

Bonus Tips for Enhancing Your Hiring Experience

Explore these additional methods for improving your hiring experience and bottom-line onboarding results. These represent unique layers and touchpoints that can significantly boost the positive aspects of your current hiring processes.

• Better Company Culture 
• Employer Branding
• More Transparency
• Mobile-Friendly Apps
• Shortened Applications
• Creating Unique Experiences
• Write Better Job Descriptions
• Communicate Using Social Media

Trust ExactHire

Today’s hiring landscape is different, presenting new challenges for hiring managers and companies looking to attract and retain top talent. However, exploring ways to improve your candidate hiring experience can have incredible benefits and hiring ROI. Consider these insights for evaluating and improving your hiring experience. And when you need more guidance with ATS, assessment testing, onboarding procedures, and hiring solutions, trust the expert team of HR and recruiting professionals here at ExactHire. Let’s connect and start improving your candidate experiences and streamline your hiring efforts!