Why Is Candidate Experience So Difficult To Improve ?
Breaking the glass wall between the employer and candidate will always be hard
We have written several articles about the candidate experience in this blog (see Candidate Experience: The Long-forgotten Now In The Light and How can you manage your first contact with a prospect?). Despite a growing number of new tools and approaches in recruitment, a noticeable friction still exists between candidates and employers. Why?
An eternal mistrust?
The first reason dwells in the heart of recruitment: both parties may strive to appear better than they are. On one hand, a company might claim to be the best in its sector and that its employees are delighted to be a part of its mission. On the other hand, a candidate might claim that their experiences have made them the quickest-learning, hardest-working, and most flexible employee on the market
Both parties are aware of this to some extent and so the trust between them is usually imperfect. The candidate may take extra steps in contacting former and current employees to know more about their own experiences. The company may take additional precautions to ensure that the candidate has been honest with their resume.
A mutual mistrust of this nature can certainly impact the relationship between the candidate and the employer.
Ineffective tools
An increasing number of tools are being developed to face this specific challenge. Many ATS solutions offer features or consulting about how to improve the candidate experience: attractive branding pages, automatic emails to update candidates about their advancements, and so forth.
The issue here is that these tools only solve superficial problems. They do not address some of the more profound aspects of the candidate-employer relationship. A well-designed career portal is always a plus, especially if it is effective at keeping candidates in the loop about the progress of their job applications. However, they may never have much insight into the finer details of the recruitment process.
A new but still misguided approach
As we have explained in other articles, a new approach is needed to improve the overall candidate experience. However, some degree of mistrust continues to exist as long as there is imperfect information between the candidate and the employer.
Ultimately, companies should try to be as transparent as possible with their candidates. For example, they should try to clearly elaborate on the types of candidates they are looking for, as well as on the precise nature of the position they are trying to fill. Companies should be straightforward about the potential for the candidate to be hired.
Some factors will always be difficult to control. In such cases, communication — above all else — is key.
