What is a good Candidate Journey?

It is high time to pay as much (or perhaps even more) attention to the Candidate Journey as to that of the 'Customer'. This is evident from the abundance of unfilled vacancies that currently exist throughout the country. Organizations are unable to fill them, which is partly due to the overheated market, but mainly because we do not know enough about what is happening on the candidate side.

What contact moments does a (potential) applicant have with your organization before he/she can decide to apply? And what exactly are all the ways to apply? We cannot tell you this in this article, because it differs for every organization. So check this out for yourself, but do it the right way, which we can tell you: Assume that the candidate does not yet know your organization, start with a blank canvas:

1. Where do they first encounter your organization (as a potential employer)? Is it offline or online? If it is online, where/on which platform? And what exactly do they see about you?
2. Suppose they are triggered by the first point of contact (above). What is the next step? Do they end up on your website? On which page, and what do they see/read about you?
3. If the candidate then wants to view your job vacancies, where/how can they find one that suits them and what can they read/see about it?
4. When the person wants to apply for a job, how does he/she do that? Are there multiple options and what steps does he/she need to take? How long does this process take and how many (personal) contact moments are there before the person is invited for an interview?
5. Finally, you also examine the hiring process when someone is invited for an interview. What are the different steps involved before someone is hired?

Okay, you know what steps and touchpoints there are with your organization from the candidate's perspective. But how does the candidate experience these? Does it meet his/her expectations or is there something disappointing? What is different about this Journey compared to that of a competitor employer? That is the Candidate Experience, and it says something about the quality of your Journey. Of course, the best way to test this is in practice: have someone (or better yet, several people) from your candidate target group go through the Employer Journey and share their experiences with you.

Once you have a clear understanding of the Journey and Experience, you can start making improvements. We are happy to give you some tips in this area that most companies can already use to improve.

• Be where your target audience is.Don't expect your target audience to 'automatically' end up on your (careers) website, but actively draw them there.

• Invest in (visual) content.To entice your target audience to visit your website and consider your job vacancy, you need to come up with really good content to beat the competition.

• Make sure you have a strong careers website.Your careers website must shine in terms of technology, functionality, and visuals.

• Know and own your value proposition. Wesometimes tend to be too modest, but that won't win you the battle. Why are you a good employer? What makes you better than the competition and why do people want to continue working for you? Shout it from the (digital) rooftops!

• Lower barriers.When a candidate is potentially interested in working for your organization, they should be able to take action in the simplest way possible. Think of prominent contact details, simple application forms, and chat options, for example.

• Make it as personal as possible. Ifa candidate feels like they are one of hundreds and does not feel that they are being given personal attention, they will quickly lose interest. See where you can improve this in the Journey.

As we mentioned, the Candidate Journey is often neglected. Just as we need to optimize this process to attract customers, the same applies to staff. Especially with the abundance of choices they currently have.