The battle for top talent has never been fiercer, and there’s one factor that’s emerging as a game-changer: candidate experience. Gone are the days when a competitive salary and benefits package alone could win over the best candidates. In 2024, job seekers expect more – they want a hiring process that reflects the values and culture of their potential employer.
As digital transformation reshapes the recruitment landscape and candidates increasingly view their hiring journey as a preview of company culture, organisations are realising that every interaction matters. This shift isn’t just about modernising recruitment – it’s about fundamentally reimagining how companies connect with and evaluate talent.
At the recent HR Live event, “The Future of Candidate Experience,” they didn’t just want to theorise about these changes. They brought together industry pioneers to share their insights, but we also turned to their audience to take the pulse of current recruitment practices. Through a series of live polls, they uncovered some revealing trends about where candidate experience stands today. Here’s what they discovered:
My findings painted a vivid picture of today’s recruitment landscape. I saw how organisations are prioritising candidate experience in the hiring strategies, wrestling with communication challenges, and striving to maintain meaningful engagement despite resource constraints and overwhelming application volumes. But the story doesn’t end there – let me peel back the layers and examine what’s really driving these trends.
The Importance of Candidate Experience in the Hiring Process
The numbers speak volumes: when over 90% of our audience identifies candidate experience as central or vital to their talent acquisition strategy, it’s clear we’ve entered a new era of recruitment. This isn’t just a trend – it’s a fundamental shift in how organisations approach hiring. As SocialTalent CEO Johnny Campbell emphasised, “Creating a positive and memorable candidate experience has never been more important.” In today’s competitive landscape, where talent shortages collide with rising candidate expectations, organisations can’t afford to treat the candidate experience as an afterthought.
But what defines a truly exceptional candidate experience? It’s not just about rolling out the red carpet for successful candidates. Rather, it’s about creating a journey that respects and engages every applicant, regardless of the outcome. ERE Media’s VP of Research, Kevin Grossman, painted a stark picture of the current landscape. “Candidate frustration and resentment are higher than they’ve ever been,” he warned, highlighting how negative experiences can leave lasting scars on a company’s reputation and its future ability to attract talent.
In the age of AI and automation, it might be tempting to think technology alone can solve these challenges. However, Accenture’s Global Recruiting Director, Tom Sayer, offered a crucial reminder: human connection remains the cornerstone of memorable candidate experiences. “The peak of the experience comes when candidates meet our people,” he noted, emphasizing that while technology can streamline processes, it’s the human touchpoints that leave the most lasting impressions.
The Role of Good Communication in Positive Candidate Experience
Communication isn’t just a component of candidate experience – it’s the backbone that supports every interaction throughout the hiring journey. Whether delivering good news or providing constructive feedback, how organisations communicate can transform a standard recruitment process into an exceptional candidate experience.
Arup’s Associate Principal and Regional Talent Resourcing Leader, Cheryl Peterson, shared a compelling example of how listening to candidates can drive meaningful improvements. When candidate surveys revealed a strong desire for immediate feedback, Arup responded decisively. They implemented a structured interview debrief system with 24-hour service-level agreements (SLAs), ensuring candidates never had to wonder where they stood. “We heard loud and clear from our survey results that candidates wanted immediate feedback to know where they stood in the process,” Cheryl explained. This straightforward solution dramatically boosted candidate satisfaction by eliminating the anxiety of uncertainty.
In an era where AI and automation are increasingly prevalent in recruitment, communication takes on another critical role: explaining how and why technology is used in the hiring process. Many candidates approach automated systems with skepticism, but Cheryl revealed how Arup turned this challenge into an opportunity. “Candidates want to know that automation isn’t being used to weed them out, but rather to bring them in for human conversations,” she noted. By being transparent about how technology enables rather than replaces human interaction, Arup successfully maintains the personal touch that candidates crave, even while processing large volumes of applications.
Accenture’s approach, as shared by Tom, takes this commitment to communication even further. Rather than waiting until the end of the process to gather feedback, they’ve implemented regular check-ins throughout the candidate journey. This real-time feedback system allows them to make immediate adjustments and improvements. As Tom succinctly put it, “Candidates just want transparency and to know why things are done a certain way.” This observation cuts to the heart of effective recruitment communication – it’s not just about what you tell candidates, but about creating an environment of trust and understanding.
Challenges: Limited Resources, Managing Candidate Engagement, and High Application Volumes
The gap between aspiration and reality in candidate experience often comes down to a fundamental challenge: how do organisations deliver personalised, engaging experiences while managing overwhelming application volumes and resource constraints?
At D&B Placements, our event polls revealed that candidate engagement remains one of the most pressing challenges for talent acquisition teams. With leaner budgets and smaller teams becoming the norm, maintaining meaningful connections with candidates has become increasingly complex. Arup’s solution, as shared by Cheryl, lies in strategic automation: they implemented pre-recorded video interviews for initial screening while ensuring personal touchpoints remained at crucial stages of the journey. This hybrid approach allows them to scale efficiently without sacrificing the human element that candidates value.
The scale of this challenge becomes even more apparent when considering organisations like Accenture, which processes over 5 million applications annually. Tom Sayer shared how they’ve mastered this balancing act: while automation handles the heavy lifting of screening and scheduling, the company deliberately preserves human interaction at pivotal moments. “The focus remains on meaningful human interactions during key moments like interviews,” Tom explained. Rather than viewing technology as a replacement for human connection, Accenture uses it as an enabler that frees up recruiters to focus on high-value interactions.
Nestlé faces an even greater volume challenge, managing more than 6 million applications each year. But what sets their approach apart, according to Global Talent Acquisition Manager Gui Neves, is their commitment to creating value for every candidate – even those who don’t make it through the process. “We provide specific training content to candidates as a takeaway from their interaction with us,” Neves revealed. This innovative approach transforms what could be a disappointing rejection into an opportunity for growth and learning, demonstrating how organisations can maintain meaningful engagement even when managing massive candidate volumes.
The Path Forward
The insights from HR Live event paint a clear picture of candidate experience in 2024: success lies in orchestrating a delicate dance between technological efficiency and authentic human connection. As organisations embrace automation to handle growing application volumes, the challenge isn’t just about implementing new tools – it’s about weaving them seamlessly into a candidate journey that feels personal and engaging at every touchpoint.
What emerges from our industry leaders’ discussions is unequivocal: candidate experience has evolved from a “nice-to-have” into a strategic imperative that shapes not only hiring outcomes but an organisation’s entire market position. The most successful companies aren’t just managing the recruitment process; they’re crafting memorable experiences that resonate long after the final interview.
In this new landscape, the winning formula combines the scalability of technology with the irreplaceable value of human interaction. Organisations that can strike this balance – delivering transparent communication, timely feedback, and meaningful engagement despite resource constraints – will distinguish themselves in an increasingly competitive talent market. The future belongs to those who can transform the challenges of high-volume hiring into opportunities to showcase their commitment to exceptional candidate experience.
Ready to transform your candidate experience from good to exceptional? D&B Placement’s comprehensive training platform gives your team the tools and strategies they need to create standout hiring experiences. Our expert-led content can help you master everything from automated engagement to meaningful human touchpoints.
Don’t let your competition get ahead – connect with our team today to discover how D&B Placement’s can elevate your candidate experience strategy. Your future talent is waiting.
