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Candidate experience: 10 easy ways to improve every touchpoint
- Mark Harbottle
- Apr 10
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 25
Candidate experience matters. Cronofy’s Candidate Expectations report 2024 told us that interviewees want real-time connections with their interviewers, that a poor experience increases frustration and anxiety, and a dissatisfied candidate is increasingly more likely to vent to colleagues, peers and through social media.
I feel that the candidate experience is one of those intangible things that everyone has a different definition of. For me, it’s the very first time a potential employee comes into contact with your company. It could be seeing a live role on a job board, visiting your careers page, meeting you at an expo, or even hearing about you through someone else. The candidate experience could start years before someone interviews or joins your company.
Doing a disservice to your candidate experience is like throwing great CV’s out the window. Don’t give candidates a reason to walk away for something you have complete control over.
Here are 10 easy ways to improve every single touchpoint during your hiring process.
1. Awareness: Build a strong employer brand
Why it matters: Candidates are just like consumers — they research your company via social media, LinkedIn, and review sites before applying .
How to improve:
Showcase your culture with “a day in the life” stories, employee testimonials, and culture-focused videos or images. Show off your company personality!
Make sure your job titles and job descriptions are clear, personalised and meaningful to your target market. The clearer and easier they are to your consumers, the more likely they will be able to relate to. A simple ‘intro from the hiring manager’ on a job description, or a ‘why we’re hiring’ goes a long way to opening a window into your organisation.
2. Interest: Engage before they apply
Why it matters: Transparency at this early stage builds trust .
How to improve:
Offer a candidate FAQ covering process timelines, interview tips, benefits, etc.
We’ve created a document all about interviewing at Cronofy. I believe that if we offer this information early, it leaves little room for unexpected surprises in the process, and helps candidates visualise what it’s like working with us. I also believe that we’re giving candidates the chance to bring their ‘best self’ to interview, and we’re going to make better assessments this way.
3. Applying: Simplify and streamline
Why it matters: 78% of candidates abandon applications if the process is overly complex .
How to improve:
Request only essential details first; postpone deeper questions for later, and limit the risk of bias creeping in.
Clearly outline next steps and response timelines.
Think about the experience you want your candidates to have. Are you going to improve the experience with an AI bot that asks for a video recording? Can you justify to a candidate why they should spend so much time on your application?
4. Screening and evaluating: Be fast and fair
How to improve:
Set internal SLAs for reviewing applications and providing feedback.
Use structured interviews to reduce bias and speed up decisions, and train your hiring managers on making evidence-based assessments that contribute to accurate decision making.
5. Interviewing: Communicate with empathy
Why it matters: Candidates value respectful, timely interactions. 43% of candidates are leaving the hiring process because it took too long to schedule an interview.
How to improve:
Confirm interviews promptly and follow-up with reminders and prep info.
Integrate automated interview scheduling that offers real time availability - show candidates you respect their time.
6. Feedback: Close the loop
Why it matters: 37% of candidates report dissatisfaction with lack of feedback. Silence has a lasting impact on trust, relationships and your employer brand. Especially if you want to move the candidate forward in the process. If you've made a decision, why delay in telling them?
How to improve:
Share next steps and timelines in interviews - and commit to them!
Provide helpful rejection feedback — candidates appreciate clarity and transparency. Create time in your interview process to give feedback to candidates who have given their time to interview with you.
7. Offer Stage: Deliver with Care
Why it matters: 48% of candidates decline offers due to delays after the final interview.
How to improve:
Deliver offers promptly with clear details about start date, benefits, and next steps.
Use personalised outreach instead of templated messages to reinforce connection.
8. Onboarding: Welcome warmly
Why it matters: The candidate experience extends beyond offer stage, don’t give them a reason to change their mind.
How to improve:
Send a welcome package (emails, company swag, first-week schedule).
Assign a buddy and arrange early check-ins to help them settle.
Keep in regular contact during the onboarding process. Don’t go silent for weeks! You can automate this step.
9. Feedback loop: Learn and adapt
Why it matters: Focus on constant improvements, because it’s unlikely your competitors are doing the same thing.
How to improve:
Use simple surveys like Candidate NPS or CSS throughout.
Analyse metrics like drop-off rates, interview-to-offer ratio, and time to hire.
Regularly review feedback, identify pain points, and adjust processes to perfect the candidate experience.
10. Evangelism: Leverage advocates
Why it matters: Candidates share poor experiences publicly . On the flip side, satisfied candidates are 38% more likely to accept offers and refer others
How to improve:
Encourage candidates to leave reviews on platforms like Glassdoor.
Ask satisfied applicants for testimonials.
Highlight candidate success stories in your employer brand content.
Wrapping up
Improving candidate experience goes beyond doing what’s fair — it’s about reinforcing your employer brand, reducing time-to-hire, and creating advocates who’ll sing your praises. High-performing organisations are winning by working through each interaction, measuring impact, and continuously refining their candidate journey.
What’s easily missed is how simple these steps are but how much they contribute to the confidence and comfort of a candidate during the interview process. Many of these steps can be automated and leveraged through your ATS or existing tools.
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