3 Disruptive Tactics to Overhaul Your Candidate Experience

Organizations that have been in business for a long time tend to hold onto old processes. Hiring is no exception. After all, if a process is working, why change it?

One reason hiring managers may want to change the way they interact with candidates is that doing so can improve how the organization is viewed within the job market, making it more desirable to qualified candidates. Here are three ways to shake up your hiring program:

1. Listen to candidates

Listening may not seem like the most disruptive way to change hiring for the better. In fact, it can be a powerful method when implemented correctly. Listening to how candidates feel about your organization’s hiring process can help stakeholders uncover challenges they may not have been previously aware.

This means hiring managers need to listen to rejected candidates as well as the individuals they hire. Managers should look for pain points candidates experienced when applying for a job. Stakeholders can then use this data to streamline processes and generate a more positive candidate experience.

2. Take a field trip

Hiring managers who are siloed away from the people they hire are at a disadvantage compared to those who possess a thorough understanding of the work candidates are expected to complete. Though an HR person has a different set of skills compared to, say, a software engineer, it’s still important that they have a concrete idea of what an engineer’s day looks like. This knowledge will inform the hiring process and may lead to better decision-making.

If it’s been a while since you’ve visited the other departments in your organization, schedule some time to meet with department managers and talk about the challenges workers face each day. What kind of skills are they lacking? What types of personalities fit well in the established culture? This kind of exercise can be very helpful for HR managers who want to update job descriptions and make their hiring process more efficient.

3. Utilize new hiring technologies

If the industrial revolution changed society forever, then the coming revolution in artificial intelligence technology will change it again. Indeed, AI is already making our daily lives easier. Digital personal assistants like Siri and Alexa make it easy to remember appointments and complete routine tasks.

In the business world, AI has the power to change how hiring managers engage with talent. Tech expert Rudina Seseri, writing in Forbes magazine, reported that advancements in data processing can help the HR department craft better job postings, for example. Text analysis software can rate a job post based on how it predicts candidates will respond to the post, allowing HR managers to choose words that will have the biggest impact on a target audience.

Remember: When you look to overhaul your hiring process, ask yourself these questions to start:

• Am I listening to and communicating with our applicants?
• Do I understand the various roles we’re hiring for?
• How well is our hiring experience integrated with the latest technology?

At JazzHR, we set the standard in recruiting software. To learn more about how our services can streamline your organization’s hiring process, take a product tour today.