Top 10 Ways in which RPO Services can Enhance Candidate Experience

The recruitment process has transformed over the last decade, and employers have begun to take notice of employees’ needs and wants. As per studies done on the subject, employees choose their workplace not just based on salary and benefits, but their ‘candidate experience’. This term refers to the candidate’s experience of the entire organisation’s recruitment procedure.

In the long term, it’s never about a single candidate. Job review websites remain a reliable source, where present employees can leave behind reviews regarding their company for potential candidates. One negative experience ruins your organisation’s chances of hiring a talented employee – if any at all. What companies must remember is that the recruitment process is an interview for them as much as for the candidate. Talent chooses your company, and you must invest in quality RPO services for the optimum candidate experience.

Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) services ensure cost-efficiency and process automation, which bridges the distance between the candidates and employers. As a result, the best candidate experience builds the employer’s brand reputation and promotes new talent to join them.

In this article, we shall learn how RPO services use modern technologies and tools to engage the candidate and develop a healthy working relationship with them.

1. Website optimisation

Your website is the first point of contact that your candidates have with your organisation so that they can get the information that they need to apply. It must deliver relevant and enlightening content, such as employee branding and value propositions, that shall help your candidates.

2. A clearly-defined job description
Candidates are on the lookout for brand-new job opportunities all the time, and they want an accurate and clear-cut job description explaining the role and its responsibilities. Apart from the qualifications required to be met, they are interested in knowing the company values, salary and benefits in an easily comprehensible manner.

3. Easy application procedure
Candidates fill hundreds of applications all day to receive one call for a job interview, and they do not have the time to undergo tedious application processes. This goes for confident and passive job-seekers alike who believe that long applications aren’t worth the time and effort.

Simplify your application process by asking them what exactly you need, and make it comprehensive and compact. Also, ensure that it can be accessed by all devices – smartphone, tablet, iPad and laptop alike.

4. Transparency in the recruitment process
Candidates are more self-prepared and happier if their hiring managers define the hiring process for them at the outset. Make sure that the process lists out the steps, its duration and a contact person for the same. Concern for potential candidates will ease their nervousness, self-doubt and confusion.

5. A ‘human’ conversation
What employers tend to forget with a hectic recruitment process is that candidates are more than resumés. They are human beings with thoughts, feelings and emotions. Though automated email and telephone remain vital tools for communication, support and documentation, they don’t replace human interaction by any means. On the other hand, RPO services advertise the company and its open job position, yet gain insights into the candidate’s career expectations and background to arrive at a decision.

6. Communication is key
During the recruitment process, recruiters must communicate with their candidate regarding their application and interview status. No candidate likes to be ghosted after they send off an application or sit for an interview — so be in touch with them at all times. Recruitment-based email campaigns are helpful to keep the candidates engaged. Feel free to use existing email templates. Alternatively, create customised ones for a personal touch.

7. Highlight your company culture
As much as you advertise your company, its growth and future expectations on the websites, candidates hesitate to decide until they have met the hiring manager and seen the office. Ask insightful questions, clarify the candidate’s doubts, complete the interview in thirty to forty minutes and show them around the workplace during lunch.

8. Responsive and quality feedback
Candidates want to improve themselves for their next job interview, and quality feedback always helps. Though they love positive news over the phone, it is wiser to intimate them through email, in case they weren’t selected for the next round. Providing candidates with feedback shall motivate them to consider your company, even if they look for job changes in the future. Asking for feedback helps you fine-tune your recruitment process, as candidates know what they are looking for.

9. Respect for the candidate’s time
Candidates don’t like to wait for days or weeks for a single reply, especially if they have invested their time, money and effort in polishing up their resumé, applying for open positions, travelling for interviews and waiting. Though statistics show that it can take up to three months to make a decision, it is unhelpful because candidates only have the patience to wait for ten days. Respond to the interview, or at least keep them posted, within three to five business days so that the candidate can take up the offer or look for other opportunities.

10. A healthy candidate-recruiter relationship
Just because a candidate couldn’t qualify for a particular job position doesn’t mean that they can’t compete for other roles in the future. Engage with top-quality candidates that reduce hiring and recruiting cycles, and build the talent pool. Once there is an open position, choose within the talent acquisition pool and select your candidates for further assessment. Maintain a professional connection with them on LinkedIn and other social media tools, hold talent acquisition events and add candidates to the recruitment-based email campaigns.

Whether well-established or a startup, organisations must advertise their branding during the recruitment process to target quality candidates through automated campaigns along with offering data-driven insights. This can be done by sharing relevant content on different media and platforms for a better outreach across the segment, industry and city.

Recruitment processes are equally important for the candidate and the recruiter, as it is a two-way opportunity where both the interviewer and interviewee put their best foot forward to ensure an incredible candidate experience. If you would like some strategic advice on recruitment procedures, contact us at BetterPlace right now.