ATS: the best way to improve the candidate experience
Who hasn't spent weeks waiting for a reply to a CV or interview? The phenomenon seems to be becoming even more widespread. Today, many candidates are dissatisfied with the way they experience the recruitment process. Many complain about the same things, and when we listen to them, it's often the same thing that comes up: companies give them too little attention and too little time. Changing the candidate experience means setting your company apart and giving it a better image. And there's an indispensable tool for doing just that: the ATS.
Candidate experience: a crucial factor in raising your company's profile
What is a candidate experience?
It's about how a company is perceived by a candidate. The candidate experience begins when the candidate reads the job description, and ends when the company responds (whether positively or negatively).
Candidateexperience refers to the ideas a candidate will have about the company throughout the recruitment process.
As this ICIMS study proves, over 50% of recruiters no longer even bother to reply to their candidates! Often overlooked by recruiters, the candidate experience is nevertheless decisive for your company's image. Today, taking this simple factor into account can become a real asset.
Recruitment: contact points not to be neglected
To give you a clearer idea of what the candidate experience entails, here are a few key points to keep in mind during the recruitment process:
- The ad: is it exhaustive? complete? legible? How do you distribute it? All these elements are important for the candidate.
- The interview: is it by videoconference? by telephone? in person? In any case, this is an important communication point. It's perhaps the best way for candidates to get a feel for your company.
- Post-interview relations: not to be neglected! As we've seen, most companies don't take this stage into account. Nevertheless, it's important to show the candidate that you're interested in his or her application.
- The communication phase: the period when you and your candidate talk on the phone to set up an interview, for example.
- Feedback: collecting feedback at the end of the interview.
Keepingthese steps in mind will ensure you have a much better image with candidates! These are simple gestures, but they will have a guaranteed effect.
Frequent bad experiences that displease candidates
So, what are the reasons why a candidate might have a bad recruitment experience today? The causes are many, but simple to avoid.
Recruitersare extremely slow to respond or, in some cases, don't respond at all. Candidates may perceive this as a lack of respect or consideration. In any case, it annoys them essentially because they lack visibility on their interviews.
Iflengthy recruitment processes are what candidates most often dislike, many of them also criticize rather impersonal recruitment processes. In short, the result is low self-esteem and difficulty projecting oneself into the future!
Why pay attention to the recruitment process?
Itis decisive for your company's image. After the covid crisis, at a time of "quiet quitting" and with a younger generation demanding better working conditions, candidates today are much more selective.
Evenif the candidates you've dealt with aren't selected, in the age of social networks it's easy to share a bad feeling about a company, an interviewer...
Inany case, following the recruitment process, the impressions the candidate will have and share with his or her network will have an effect on the company's image.
ATS: a real asset for boosting your candidates' experience!
What is an ATS?
Of course, responding individually to each candidate would take a considerable amount of time for every company, but that's why ATS, application management software , is a real asset.
Withless effort, it makes the candidate feel followed! An ATS also enables the recruiter to have a more transparent relationship with the candidate, throughout the entire process.
How do I use my ATS?
There are several tools available to optimize the use of an ATS. The software has a number of effective features.
Thanksto customized process tables, no candidate is forgotten. At the end of each interview, you can quickly and easily record comments about the candidate. ATS also lets you see very quickly which candidates are waiting for a response. This allows you to respond efficiently to all candidates!
Why does an ATS help give candidates a good first impression?
The ATS is really the tool that makes the difference when it comes to giving candidates a good first impression. In fact, it makes candidates feel more followed. As we've seen, this is a detail that many companies overlook, and it can make all the difference!
Thecandidate will also feel more transparency in the process. Maximum 1 to 2 days after each interview, the candidate will receive an email to track the stages of their application.
Ata job fair, you're going to want to make a good impression on your potential candidates. ATS serves the same purpose. Taking care of the candidate experience means standing out from the crowd.
Best practices to implement right away
To improve the candidate experience today, here are some simple practices to put in place:
- Make your job offers more attractive. Attractive, polished, well-written job offers will convey your corporate values. This will give customers a good image of your company. You'll be seen as an interesting company that gives its employees rewarding and attractive jobs. And that's important.
- When you contact candidates on LinkedIn, APEC, Pôle Emploi or any other network - take care in your approach and personalize the hook of the messages you send to the candidate, based on his or her background.
- Be delicate when rejecting an application. You don't want the candidate to have a negative image of the company. It's all about tact. Let candidates know if you're not considering them.
- Keep in touch with candidates you almost selected! It's a great way to develop your network. Those who come close to completing your selection process undoubtedly possess great skills and qualifications. They may well be future employees. Don't let them out of your sight!
- Be transparent. Transparency will save you time! Being transparent about your corporate values and what you're looking for will enable you to recruit a candidate who matches your expectations, and who is genuinely interested in the vacancy. Otherwise, you run the risk of disappointing someone... Which wouldn't be very profitable.
- Prepare for the arrival of the new candidate. Don't skimp on onboarding. Joining a new company can be intimidating, and many may fear that they won't fit in. Preparing for this situation in advance is crucial. You can also introduce the new employee to the team on his or her first day: this will make him or her feel more at ease.
Take care of rejection emails
Don't want to follow up interviews? Take the time to reply to the candidate ! Rejection emails are very important for leaving a good impression on unsuccessful candidates. A good rejection can even bring you some very interesting new candidates!
Don't hesitate to give the candidate concrete feedback. Use the notes recorded in the ATS to give him constructive feedback - explain what went wrong and give him pointers for improvement. Don't be too curt or evasive in your response. The more specific you can be about why you rejected the candidate, the more useful your e-mail will be.
That way, he won't feel he's been unfairly rejected. And don't hesitate to ask for feedback on the recruitment process by sending them a quick questionnaire to fill in.
Conclusion
Today, with these tools at their disposal, companies can no longer afford to put the candidate experience on the back burner, on the pretext that the communication process is too time-consuming! In fact, ATS is quick and easy to set up, and enables effective, transparent communication that will appeal to your candidates. And improve your company's image. In addition to ATS, there are a few good, easy-to-implement gestures that will also make all the difference!
