As the complexity of finding top talent continues; the candidate experience evolves. In an attempt to attract informed candidates, employers are focusing more efforts on enhancing the candidate experience. Today’s candidate will have a vastly different experience than Yesterday’s candidate but what exactly is changing?
TOP 10 CANDIDATE EXPERIENCES
1. Search
The search to find a job has been drastically optimized. Job boards, social media platforms and Google searches are all making the job search process more efficient. For instance, job seekers can now use their mobile device to effectively search and apply for a job. Each platform has been updated to be more user-friendly and allow job seekers to receive text alerts when a relevant position is available, apply at the click of a button and answer any questions regarding their work history directly from their smart phone.
2. Application Process
Employers have implemented software that allows the candidate to track their application in real time as it goes through the qualification process. This allows for more transparency and communication between the company and the candidate, decreases candidate frustration and thus, increases their satisfaction.
3. The Resume
Resumes are going digital. Today’s candidate will require an online resume, portfolio, and professional network in order to frame themselves as the ideal candidate. Some employers have even replaced submitting a resume with an option to link their social media profiles.
4. The Brand
Speaking of social media, it’s more important than ever for the candidate to have an online presence; a reputable presence. Employers want to see a candidate whose social media, personal website, professional website and actual personality all align.
5. The Diversity
Diversity is the most impactful initiative in the candidate experience. In an effort to create a more diverse workforce, a candidate’s resume may undergo a blind screening process where all demographic related information is removed in order to ensure only the candidate’s ability and achievements are being considered.
6. The Data
Whether they know it or not, more and more candidates are using Machine Learning and AI software to both search for and land a job. Job seekers now can take a personality test and have jobs matched to their skills and interests. The new software will also help candidates enhance their resumes and offer coaching to further their opportunities. As the recruiting process becomes more automated and data driven, it will begin to remove employer's common biases towards certain candidates. AI programs are constructed to notice patterns in candidate selection. If the selection is biased in anyway the software will notice such and adjust to create a more level playing field.
7. The Interview
While traditional interviews are still being conducted, today’s candidate will notice the tools and questions are changing. Employers will ask a candidate to work on a task as a sample ‘Job Audition’, more behavioral questions are being asked in order to determine a candidate’s soft skills and virtual reality assessments are gradually becoming more mainstream in certain fields.
8. The Timing
Today, the candidate’s experience does not necessarily start at the job search. Employers are realizing that a good percentage of top talent is already employed. This being said, recruiters are utilizing social media platforms to find passive candidates who aren’t actively looking for a job but may be the perfect fit for their open position.
9. The Job Market
While the job market itself is doing very well, shifts are happening. Candidates must consider the fact that the majority of available jobs are taking on a digital undertones. Technology, Health Care and labor-intensive roles (specifically those difficult to automate) will all experience major growth in the near future.
10. The Skill Set
The ideal skill sets employers are looking for are constantly evolving. Today’s candidate has to recognize what the future of their industry holds in order to stay relevant. How much of their role can be automated and how they can best leverage the parts that cannot? A candidate’s ability to take on a new skill set is equally weighed with their existing skill set in the eyes of an employer.
The candidate experience is valued more than ever and the talent landscape is evolving. Both candidates and employers should be evolving while keeping each other's needs and goals in mind - a perfect symbiosis.
About the Author: Shannon Walsh, Yoh’s Marketing Coordinator, is a raconteur through and through. She’s rooted in New Jersey, educated in NYC, and working in Philadelphia. Powered by a passion for marketing, caffeine and punk rock music, Shannon’s knack for storytelling complimented by her creativity and 'Big Picture' mentality make her a marketing asset.