What Does the Candidate Journey Mean for Your Employer Brand?

As we’ve been discussing your employer brand, we’ve consistently
considered the impact that your decisions will have on the people
you’re hoping to attract into your talent pipeline. That’s because
employer branding, in addition to being an important concept in its
own right, is inextricably linked to both candidate experience and
the candidate journey.

Typically, your branding acts as the first touch for both candidate
experience (which refers to the user’s perspective for each step in the
application process) and the candidate journey (which is essentially
the recruitment funnel from the perspective of the applicant), acting
not just as an invitation to discover more about your brand but as an
initial chance to delight your audience.

Just as employer brand impacts candidate experience, candidate
experience can have a big impact on your employer brand. Social
media and review sites have empowered modern candidates to
speak their minds and share their experience with possible employers, and any past applicants who were put o by your applicant experience won’t be shy about telling others.

In this way, ineective management of your candidate experience
can have serious, long-term consequences.

A Possible Scenario:
Let's say a candidate is treated poorly during the interview phase, is
frustrated by the application form on your site, or encounters other
hurdles along the hiring process. Nothing stops her from going online
and sharing her bad experience with the rest of the world via social
media, forums, and review sites.

This is why it's crucial to treat candidates like companies treat their
customers: with strong attention to detail and a high level of concern
for their overall experience.

To improve a candidate's journey, make sure to:

• Deliver the best possible user interface for online applications.
• Provide a clear framework for the hiring process to help candidates gain a sense of control.
• Set clear expectations from the start.
• Allow candidates to express themselves freely and listen care fully to what they say.
• Give examples that reinforce fairness and transparency at your company.
• Provide some form of closure once all the recruitment steps are completed.
• Demand accountability throughout every step of the candidate's journey.

With these steps, you can work to preserve the employer brand that
you’ve worked so hard to create and further cement your status as
a top employment destination.