Adventure is my middle name when it comes to food. And lucky for me, I got to chow down at some great restaurants over the holiday break. At one of the restaurants I went to, I decided to order their holiday tasting menu. I was so excited to try some great dishes that I could hardly wait for the first course to arrive. After what seemed like forever, the tinniest crab cake was set before me. Another eternity passed when the second course arrived, and it was then, that I realized that this was going to be a very long dinner. The time between each course seemed to be increasing, and I just wanted the next dish to be the last dish, dessert. As I waited for the thousandth dish, my mind couldn’t help but wander off into HR space. I started thinking, “I would never survive an application process if it was as long as this dinner!”
Many recruiters and HR professionals forget that the candidate experience is a crucial part of a hiring process. Long and tedious application processes can have a negative effect on a candidate’s experience. If you want to ensure that your candidates have a positive experience, the application process should be no longer than a 3-course meal.
Appetizer
Prospective applicants come to your career site because they are interested in your company. For an effective career site, it should be like a restaurant menu. Provide the right information to entice your reader to order something (apply for a job). Applicants should be able to easily find and read information about your company’s history, corporate culture, available jobs, and more. The more interactive and branded your career site is, the more traction your job opportunities will get. It is also great to add your company’s Twitter and Facebook to your site, to increase candidate engagement.
Entrée
The job application is the meat and potatoes, and it should be an easy and efficient process. This is the step where you can either win or lose a candidate. No one likes filling out the same information over and over again. It gets tiring and frankly, it gets boring. Many recruiters avoid this problem by implementing an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). With an ATS, an applicant can upload his/her resume and the information will pre-populate within the application form. This avoids redundant and time-consuming manual data entry. Another key factor in the application process is communication between the candidate and the recruiter. The number one frustration for a candidate is not receiving a response. This can be easily fixed by utilizing a Communications Center, like the one offered by iCIMS. Recruiters can send out emails to all applicants, while maintaining a personal and positive experience. Email communications will also allow candidates to know exactly where they stand at all times, in the application process.
Dessert
If your candidate toughs-out the entrée course, they’ve made it to dessert, and it’s time to bring them onboard! To ensure that your new-hire has a seamless transition into your company, utilize an onboarding portal. Post electronic forms to your onboarding portal so your new-hires don’t spend their first day filling out paperwork. Also, help save time for you and your hires by allowing them to work and manage their own training sessions. Give them flexibility and control over their own work schedule. With a positive outlook from the application process and onboarding process, your new-hire will be ready to jump right into work with increased productivity!
Use these 3 key ingredients and your candidates won’t leave the application process with a bad taste in their mouths!
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