How to Develop the Best Candidate Experience in the Age of AI

From the initial job ad, all the way through to the onboarding process, the experience your candidates have throughout the hiring process can help shape their success before they even start – and consequently, the future success of your business.

Right now, we’re seeing many candidates receiving multiple offers, particularly in technology, finance and life sciences.

Making your recruitment process feel human, timely, frictionless and engaging for candidates can give your business the edge. Not only does it help you attract the best talent, it can also ensure they’re engaged, prepared and connected from day one.

Here are seven essential tips on how to achieve the best candidate experience in the age of AI.

1.Transparency is Key: Be Honest From the Outset

Transparency and honesty are top of the list for candidates when it comes to what they want from a recruitment process. Whether you’re connecting with someone about a live job that has a clear, concise job description, or you’re just putting out feelers to see who’s out there, the candidate needs to know where they stand, and what you’re looking for from them.

With live roles, they need to know precisely the scope of the opportunity and what the application process will look like from the initial application stage to the final decision. Being open, honest and clear builds up trust between the recruiter and the candidate, a vital component in attracting top talent.

2. Avoid Silences With Regular Communication

Silence is deadly. From a candidate perspective, going into that black hole where they hear nothing is frustrating and off-putting. It causes candidates to disengage. Let people know as soon as possible that their initial application or screening has been successful, or that their second interview went well, and contact them regularly throughout the process.

Even if there is nothing new to update, keep communication channels open to let them know that they are still being considered. If there’s going to be a delay, tell them how long things might take. You may know that they are one of your top candidates, but they don't, and they may be interviewing elsewhere.

3. Give Candidates the Information They Need

Setting candidates up for success in their own eyes as well as yours is key. Enabling them with what they need to know, and what is good to know, will help deliver confident, invested applicants, and then interviewees who will show up as their best selves, making the hiring process more productive for everyone.

That means clear, targeted information, starting with your initial job ad, and a well-structured careers site, then moving onto personalised candidate packs and detailed information on any assessment tests, meetings, team introductions or presentations.

It also means sharing your own knowledge of the organisation they’re applying to, from culture and values to interview styles. Being open and prompt in answering questions and queries goes a long way, too.

4. Put Yourself in Candidates’ Shoes

At every stage, put yourself in the candidate’s shoes, and think ‘how would I like to be treated in this circumstance?’ Then act accordingly. Each person needs to feel valued and that they’re not just a number in the process.

With the onset of AI in recruitment, this is even more true, as automation can remove the personal touch at every step of the journey. Whilst AI has its place (particularly in supporting automation and high volume activities), you can still design it to deliver prompt communications that keep people fully informed and avoid ghosting or confusion.

For senior, niche or hard-to-fill roles, the human-to-human touch is still essential. Personalise the process and treat people with professionalism, as whether it’s a good or bad experience, it will be remembered.

5. Be Kind to Those Who Aren’t the Right Fit

Not all news is good news. Be comfortable giving candidates who have been rejected constructive feedback. It’s as important as delivering positive news, and it’s something the candidate can take forward into their future job searches and career development.

Letting people know promptly when they haven’t been successful is important, too. Not doing so can damage an employer’s reputation and see strong candidates who may be perfect in a different role walk away from a future role match.

6. Consider the Process After the Offer

The candidate journey continues throughout contract negotiation and on into the onboarding process - it is very valuable to have one-to-one check-ins in place with new starters during their first days, weeks and months. This contact minimises dropouts, builds engagement, improves retention, and helps to reduce time to productivity of the new employee.

Again, silence can be very harmful during pre-boarding and onboarding periods. Check in. Schedule a coffee. Make sure they know you are excited for them to be joining the team, and give each candidate the chance to let you know of any problems that need ironing out or queries that they have.

7. Gather and Implement Timely Feedback

Putting in place processes that allow you to gather data on candidates’ experience and then act on that feedback, will save a lot of head scratching when looking for what can be improved for your talent attraction and engagement efforts. Whether you identify problems with the application process itself, or trouble with their technology setup, or systems access once they start, surveys and face-to-face chats can quickly bring to light areas for improvement.

The Bottom Line: Great Candidate Experience Matters to Your Reputation

The candidate experience you offer directly affects your acceptance rates. Top candidates choose you, as well as the other way around -, and their view of your employer and corporate brand now or when they consider you in future is where your organisation can win or lose out. What’s more, word of mouth referrals are a vital area of candidate sourcing – so if your applicants and new hires have had a good experience, they are much more likely to put forward contacts from their network.

Careers are long, but talent pools across industries are often small, and the pools of talent exactly matching niche briefs are even smaller, which makes taking care to avoid poor hiring and onboarding experiences a huge opportunity. Now, more than ever, thoughtfulness and human connection win out, as the most important elements in delivering exceptional candidate experiences, and engaging effectively with the talent organisations need.