What Is Candidate Engagement

The term “candidate engagement” refers to the process followed by a hiring manager to stay in constant communication with the candidates while recruiting for an open position. This communication is usually maintained at multiple touchpoints via text, email, and face-to-face communication.

Candidate engagement not only conveys the employer value proposition (EVP), but it also constitutes a large part of the candidate experience and builds an image of the company. Candidate engagement also ensures that good candidates do not leave the process in between and move along with other offers due to a lack of proper communication. It is crucial for recruiters to design a candidate engagement strategy that keeps the company ahead of the competition.

Candidate engagement has three functional areas-

1. The Employer 
2. The Candidate
3. Technology

How to Start Improving Candidate Engagement

To start improving your candidate engagement strategies, it is crucial that you take a look at the existing process and ask a few questions. This step will provide a clear image of the process followed by the organization and locate spaces for improvement. The questions can be as the following-

1. Is there any technical glitch in the application process? If yes, is that causing dropouts?
2. How long is the candidate application journey? Is there scope for cutting steps in between that can decrease the length?
3. Is the existing process swift and provides feedback on time?

Why Is Candidate Engagement Important

Technically speaking, there is more than one reason to focus on improving the Candidate Engagement process. 

Increased Candidate Interest

Improvement in the candidate engagement process has a direct impact on the candidate’s interest in your company. The easier the process is, the more interested a candidate will be to stick to the process till the end. It will also ensure your organization stands out in multiple job offers.

Increased Job Ad Reach

While job ads play a huge role in getting the perfect candidate’s attention, word of mouth further increases the reach. If a candidate is happy with the engagement process, there is a high chance they will share it with more people, indirectly expanding your job ad’s reach. 

Reduced Candidate Dropout

A swift candidate engagement experience will ensure there is less number of dropouts. Clear communication from the organization keeps candidates engaged, interested and motivated. The process also ensures the organization does not waste time contacting people who have already left the process.

New-hire Happiness

A good candidate engagement process results in enthusiastic candidates who are motivated throughout the onboarding process. It also ensures happy hires who are excited to start their new position as they feel confident and important being a part of the company.

7 Simple Ways to Improve Candidate Engagement

Let us dive deeper into the action items on what can be done to improve an existing candidate engagement process. That being said, these pointers can also be used to create a process from scratch.

Engaging and Interactive Pre-selection Process

This step is beneficial if a company is bulk hiring for multiple positions and the time frame is considerably small.

When companies cannot accommodate manual screening of each and every candidate, online assessments can be helpful too- considering it is added in the hiring process early. Assessments not only give candidates a headstart but also give your organization important data about them.

A few examples of such assessments are-

1. Cognitive Tests- This checks general aptitude.
2. Personality Tests- As the name suggests, it gives an idea about the candidate’s personality.
3. Situational Tests- Such tests present a common work problem that might defer from one job position to another. This type of test provides an idea about the problem-solving capability of a candidate.

Create an Exciting Brand Picture

Believe it or not, candidates do consider company outlooks while considering a job opportunity. That’s why a company needs to stay on top of its image. There are a few things that an organization can follow, for example-

1. Staying active on multiple social media channels- Instagram, Facebook, and Linkedin- creates an image of a dynamic organization. Apart from improving candidate engagement, it also aids in Social Recruiting.
2. A strong content game plays a huge part when recruiting. Posting images and regular updates provides candidates with an internal scenario of the company. It can be leveled up by posting different content, i.e., videos once in a while.

Communicate with the Candidate

Some scope of improvements can be understood clearly by imagining yourself in a candidate’s shoes. More than fear of rejection, many candidates dread the conscious anxiety of applying for a job, as many companies do not even respond after receiving an application, let alone inform after rejecting a candidate.

Dropping an email after receiving a resume creates a positive company image. A few other pieces of information can be included in the email, such as the position’s closing date or when the person can hear back from them.

Abide by a Hiring Timeline

Time is a valuable resource for everyone, as we all have limited possession of it. While delays can be an unavoidable part of the hiring process, especially in bulk hiring, try and stick to the mentioned timelines.

Providing a clear guideline of the overall process, such as how many days an interview can be scheduled, how many rounds can be expected, and whether it will be a group interview or one-on-one. Furthermore, in cases of delay, it is best to inform candidates about it instead of keeping them hanging.

Start Using a Chatbot

Leveraging the blessings of automation can further improve your company’s candidate engagement process. When a candidate is interested in joining a company, the person is supposed to have many questions. As an organization, it is possible to answer some of them manually, but what about the rest?

Chatbots are very common these days. A good chatbot can help you care for such things without worrying much. Chatbots can save time and ensure candidates have the answers they need.

Automate the Scheduling Process

As a recruiter, you must know the to and fros that come with the interview scheduling process. In cases of bulk hiring, we can only imagine the horrors. In the same way, chatbots can take care of candidate queries; an automated scheduling process can reduce the hassle of manually scheduling interviews. 

Automated scheduling also allows candidates to choose a convenient time option that works for both. It also ensures the recruiter is focused on more important matters which might require immediate and uninterrupted attention.

Provide Feedback

Candidates need to understand where they could have done better if not selected. It provides great insight that the candidate can use in the following application in your company or elsewhere. 

Also, you can get great insight about your organization by sending out questionnaires like “how did we do?”. Data collected from those submissions can also help in improving your candidate engagement process in the future.

Oorwin, the AI-enabled ATS also acts as a candidate engagement platform where recruiters can keep their candidate engaged and automate tasks to focus on more important things.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you keep candidates engaged?

Candidate engagement starts from keeping a candidate informed about the process and answering their queries. Continuous and clear communication with the candidate from the start to the end of the process is what keeps a candidate engaged.

What is one unique way a recruiter can increase candidate engagement?

A strong social media presence where companies share content about their employees’ journey in the company, and their insights on what makes the company an ideal place for working nurtures and attracts candidates in a positive manner.