Candidate experience: make the hiring process clear

The candidate journey maps the stages and contact points a person moves through. Candidate engagement is the communication and interaction you organise. Candidate experience is their perception of those stages and interactions.

Use the journey to locate a problem, then ask candidates what made that step difficult. A completed application or accepted offer does not, by itself, tell you how clearly the process was explained.

Give candidates information about the organisation and clear application instructions. Employee stories can explain the work and culture, provided they reflect real experience.

Talk to colleagues who know the role before writing the job description. Describe the responsibilities, relevant skills and experience. Replace internal jargon and vague terms with information a candidate can use to decide whether to apply.

Ask someone in the organisation to complete the application process. Check the mobile experience, instructions and any information requested. Fix unnecessary steps or confusing fields before directing candidates to it.

Explain the next stages and expected timing. A usable application is part of the candidate journey, alongside the contact that happens before and after submission.

Prepare the interview and respect the candidate's time. Explain the role accurately and discuss relevant skills and experience. Give the candidate room to ask about the team, expectations and challenges.

Keep the communication consistent with the vacancy and career page. The interview is an opportunity to clarify information, including anything the candidate has understood differently.

Illustrative example for fintech infrastructure teams: an Implementation Manager candidate receives an invitation that names three interviewers but does not explain their roles or the topics. A clearer invitation gives the duration, the focus of each conversation, what to prepare and whom to contact if an arrangement is difficult. Ask the candidate afterwards which part was still unclear.

Confirm receipt of the application and respond to relevant follow-up questions. Keep candidates informed about progress and tell them when a timeline changes.

Communicate a rejection clearly and respectfully. A person may be unsuitable for one role and interested in another later. Any future contact should be explained rather than leaving them uncertain about whether the current process is still open.

For a busy recruitment team, give each open application a communication owner and a next-update date. If the decision is delayed, send the candidate the revised timing and contact details instead of leaving the original promise unanswered. A short update can explain that the decision is still pending without implying that they have advanced.

Ask candidates which instructions or stages were difficult to understand. Review the answers with the team responsible for the application and interviews. Fix the recurring problems you can identify.

Include feedback from people who were rejected, withdrew or declined an offer, as well as successful hires, where you can appropriately invite them. Record how many people were invited and responded. A few positive answers from new hires do not represent everyone who used the process.

Use the candidate engagement guide to plan contact around the problems you identify. For practical hiring guidance, request the hiring guide.