"Narrowcasting" and Other Tips to Improve the Candidate Experience

People have been talking about candidate experience for a while now, yet only 46 percent of companies actually report making regular improvements to the recruitment processes that impact the candidate experience.

Bersin by Deloitte recently released a new research report focused on candidate experience. It’s jam-packed with a lot of great information, and as a result, I’ve put together six tips for enhancing your candidate experience.

Tip 1: Generate Awareness and Interest through Personalized Messaging Whether you used LinkedIn to source and message passive talent or another platform, it’s more important than ever to craft personalized messages. Generic messaging or “spamming” mass emails at hundreds of candidates may give you a slight return on investment of your time. However, if you make the time investment to personalize your messages, you will not only increase your response rate. You’ll actually give passive candidates a reason to respond.

Tip 2: Channel Your Unique Employer Brand and EVP Even if you don’t know it, your company has an employee value proposition (EVP). If you do know your unique EVP, this should be spread through multiple channels including your career site first and foremost. In fact, 64 percent of candidates find company career sites as the most valuable source for researching companies they might want to work for in the future. This means, you need ensure your employer brand and EVP shine through including the use of video, blogs and testimonials.

Tip 3: “Narrowcasting” to Target Specific Candidates Rather than relying on the spray-and-pray method of reaching potential candidates, it’s important to be strategic in reaching out to the right candidates. Quantity isn’t always the best metric to rely on, and quality of communications in targeting specific candidates that are the right fit for the company and the position is key to increasing your talent pool. For example, Delaware North created chat events that allow potential candidates to chat with recruiters and other applicants from any mobile device.

Tip 4: Transparency and Open Communication Are Key During the pre-screening step of the recruiting process, recruiters make the first impression to prospective candidates. It’s important to set the bar during the initial pre-screen, and this includes laying out process expectations and timeline. In addition, providing candidates with the ability to follow up with a recruiter directly creates a better experience altogether.

Tip 5: Hiring Managers Need to Engage with Candidates Hiring managers must have access to the right technology to be able to effectively review, communicate and build relationships with potential candidates for positions on their team. With a hiring manager dashboard, they have the ability to gather more insight into candidates to be able to personalized their part in the process, from interviews to giving feedback.

Tip 6: Job Offers Need to Be Given in a Personalized Way I’ve experienced job offers before where I received the job offer letter via email, and that was it. In order to be personalized and increase your chances of an accepted offer, recruiters should personally call each candidate to discuss the offer package and answer immediate questions. But, it goes further than that. A call from the hiring manager can really solidify the candidate experience, showing individuals that the company is excited for the opportunity to work with them in the near future.

There are a few terms that keep trending when it comes to candidate experience. Personalization, transparency, and consistency are important aspects to keep in mind when looking to enhance your candidate experience.