How to maintain a positive candidate experience during high-volume hiring

Written by Cassandra Walter, Consultant
Previously published by PSI Talent Management or Cubiks, prior to becoming Talogy.

During periods of high-volume hiring, your job as a hiring manager can get very stressful. You have multiple open positions and you’re likely receiving a lot of pressure from other stakeholders to get those positions filled ASAP. With a high demand and heavy workload, it’s not surprising that some things start slipping through the cracks, like maintaining a positive candidate experience. Candidate experience refers to how job applicants perceive and react to their treatment during the hiring process. Maintaining a positive candidate experience is critical. A recent survey conducted by the Talent Board found that of candidates who had a positive experience, 61% would actively encourage others to apply to the organization, while 27% of those who had a negative experience would actively discourage others from applying. Furthermore, for candidates who had a positive experience, 50% would share their positive experience with others, while 32% of those with negative experiences would publicize their negative experience. Thus, candidate experience can greatly impact your organization’s public image and either aid or hinder your recruiting efforts.

At this point, I know what you must be thinking, “Sure, Cassandra, giving candidates a positive experience sounds great. But, I have 8 positions to fill, 400 applicants to process, and there’s only 24 hours in a day. I don’t have time to constantly worry about candidate experience.” Well fret not, my friend! I have some suggestions for how you can maintain a positive candidate experience during periods of high-volume hiring.

1. Be Transparent

Before taking the time to apply for a position, candidates want a clear picture of what they are getting themselves into. Ambiguous job descriptions can be very frustrating. Nobody enjoys putting in the time and effort to apply for a position only to find out that they don’t have the necessary qualifications or that it’s a job in which they aren’t interested. Therefore, ensure the posted job description is detailed about the qualifications needed and the responsibilities of the job. Also, consider posting a realistic job preview video. Show candidates exactly what a day in the life would be like, this way only candidates who are truly interested in the available position will apply. Setting clear expectations upfront will allow for unqualified or poor fit applicants to self-withdraw, and will prevent you from having to screen them out later in the process.

2. Develop Timelines

Set clear timelines and communicate them to the candidates. It can be vexing for candidates when they’ve submitted an application and then go weeks without hearing from anyone detailing next steps. After a candidate has submitted their application, they should receive a message about when they can expect to hear about next steps. It’s also beneficial to provide candidates with a point of contact that they can reach out to in case they have questions about the process or their application.

Establishing timelines can also help you stay on track in the hiring process. With multiple positions to fill and hundreds of applicants to process, it can be easy to become overwhelmed. Timelines can help you stay accountable. Once you’ve set the timeline, stick to it, and if you can’t, make sure you communicate that to the candidates.

3. Automate The Process

Candidates should be able to seamlessly move through the process. For example, they should be able to submit their application and then be immediately directed to the assessment (which you can also use to improve the candidate experience!). If they pass the assessment, they should then be directed to scheduling themselves for an interview. By having an automated process, you avoid a bottleneck from candidates waiting for you to provide them with details about the next step.

Furthermore, having the ability to do things in bulk is very beneficial during periods of high-volume hiring. Nobody wants to send 300 emails to candidates about next steps. Instead invest in technology that allows you to send bulk emails and make bulk updates to your tracking system. It’s also beneficial to have templates of your candidate communications (i.e., interview invitations, rejection letters, etc.) saved. By having templates, you are saving time by not having to re-craft messages over again.

As you read this post, you may have sensed a common theme – communication. Continuing to communicate to your candidates and setting clear expectations is a key factor of candidate experience. As an applicant, it is upsetting to put the effort in to apply for a job to then never hear back from the organization , not even to say they were no longer being considered for the position. I understand that it can be difficult to continue to communicate with applicants, especially during periods of high-volume hiring, but it is critical for maintaining a positive candidate experience. By implementing some of the suggestions made, you can greatly decrease the amount of time spent communicating while maintaining a positive experience for the applicants.

Tackling volume hiring with intelligent blended assessment

How can intelligent blended assessment improve your candidate journey and save you time?

Traditionally, when organizations want to assess potential employees across a variety of areas, they have had to subject candidates to a lengthy assessment process often with long gaps between each type of assessment and several instances of potentially incongruent feedback.

Today, organizations have the option to deliver a single assessment to their candidates, providing a far more streamlined, valid, and inclusive process.

Advances in assessment technology now allow blended assessments to become more easily utilized, while helping to underpin a positive candidate experience through a massive reduction in time between initial testing and final decision, supported by a clear and concise feedback process.

This advice guide will discuss these areas in further detail, alongside some practical examples of how Talogy has helped organizations to adopt these new processes.

Use intelligent blended assessments to improve your hiring process.

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