Three tips for recruiters to better the candidate experience.

We're often most concerned about getting the best talent outcomes for our organisations - and it's easy to forget about the candidates themselves. But it's those candidates who are putting themselves on the line by entering your selection process. And most will unfortunately come away without getting the job. Recruiters have a responsibility to themselves, and their businesses, to make sure candidates gain something meaningful from the process - regardless of whether they're successful or not.

Here are three ways to improve the recruitment selection process for both candidates and our businesses:

1. "CSAT" (candidate satisfaction) surveys

We receive about 300 direct applications every week. We send a short 1 or 3 question survey (automated, of course) to every candidate once they exit the selection process. This includes - especially, in fact - the ones who aren't successful.

I find it hugely insightful and useful to review people's feedback and comments. I read every survey that is returned.

Over a longer period of time, the stats reveal when a process for a certain role isn't working well; what we can improve; and what we should keep doing.

If things can be improved, we can A/B-test new methods - like a change to the coding test - or see if the scores go up after completing internal interview training.

I also think that it's important people unsatisfied with our process to have an chance to vent and give us their 2 cents. As a matter of fact, their feedback is pretty useful in picking out processes which are inefficient or just not working.

We ask just one question early on in the selection process, and three questions if the candidate was interviewed face to face.

2. Recruitment Alarm - Miss no-one

I'd hate to forget giving someone feedback or to fail to remember to move someone to the next interview stage. But it happens to most recruitment teams - we ourselves are human (resources), after all.

It doesn't have to be that way!

What has been useful for our team is to identify candidates whom we've failed to contact within our response time KPIs.  Our database is automatically synced with Taleo, and relevant information is displayed in our social collaboration platform Confluence and our Wallboards.

Every day, our recruitment team browses through this list. The automation allows us to find those people whom we have forgotten to give a status update in time.

This means candidates know the outcome faster and we don't miss people in the process. In some ways, this simple automation has made our process more 'human'.

The more transparent and visible a process becomes, the more people take responsibility and ownership for providing a great recruitment experience.

3. Returning candidates' investment

It takes a lot of effort to manage a recruitment process. But the time and emotional investment by candidates is equally significant.

What can we give back to candidates? Well, feedback for starters. The more feedback you can give people on what went wrong, the better they can prepare for their next interview - which may one day be back with your own organization. But are there other ways?

We're experimenting with small or larger gifts we can give to candidates to say thanks. That may be some swag to give candidates during the interview process.

Every successful hire gets either a 'holiday before they start', or a custom selected experience for them and their family . This means they start refreshed in their role, rather than still burnt out after closing up their last position.