What Stands in the Way of Delivering a Great Candidate Experience?

Obstacles CE

It’s a safe bet that if you’re in the staffing industry, you understand the importance of a great candidate experience. But delivering a great candidate experience is easier said than done. It takes a deliberate effort on the part of your firm, and even then, there are forces outside of your control that can hinder the experience a candidate has with your firm.

We asked over 1400 staffing professionals to list the obstacles that stand in the way of providing the best candidate experience possible.  These are the themes that appeared most consistently:

Candidate Experience

 

What Stands in the Way of Delivering a Great Candidate Experience?

Above all else, staffing professionals cited challenges setting appropriate expectations for candidates and maintaining consistent communication. But many other issues can arise as well. Here are some illuminating responses from staffing professionals.

Ensuring the onsite experience at the client is aligned with the experience promised to the candidate. This is often out of our control, but we work hard to ensure we know what's going on with our clients. Transparency is key.
Respondent 2017 Staffing & Recruiting Trends Report

 

Consistent forward contact with candidates that don't get the job or aren't right for the job they applied for.
Respondent 2017 Staffing and Recruiting Trends Report

 

Unfavorable things that happen outside of our control, like when a client rejects a candidate but does not give clear reasons as to why the candidate was rejected.
Respondent 2017 Staffing and Recruiting Trends Report

 

Competing for the attention of candidates in a saturated marketplace, and trying to balance candidate care with the demands of the role, like managing high volume desks and being able to update candidates efficiently.
Respondent 2017 Staffing and Recruiting Trends Report

 

You can’t place everyone, and those who are unqualified for positions aren’t often perceptive to the feedback we provide.
Respondent 2017 Staffing and Recruiting Trends Report

Making the investment in resources that will specifically help improve the candidate experience.
Respondent 2017 Staffing and Recruiting Trends Report

Recognizing the obstacles that prevent you from delivering a great candidate experience is the first step to fixing them. But in order to make a real change, it needs to be a visible part of your firm’s strategy. For the how and why of building candidate engagement into your firm’s DNA, check out this new guide from our friends at Herefish: “The Case for Candidate Engagement.”

Candidate Engagement

 

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