Your hiring process is what the candidate experiences. For most candidates the hiring process is their first impression of a company, and as we all know – you can’t make a first impression twice. The candidate experience is based on how the candidate reacts to each step of the process, so how can you ensure you’ve created the best environment for an amazing candidate experience?

Follow These 5 Steps:

Be Social.

1. First of all, creating a Candidate Experience should begin even before the candidate knows they’re applying. Employer branding is the foundation of your candidate experience. This means your company has strategized and is committed to creating transparency between the office and the public. You’ve found creative ways to tell your company story and mission, and employees are dedicated to sharing the details of your great workplace. You’ve made an effort to be visible on social media, and you’re committed to responding to your fans and soon to be candidates.

Be Inviting.

2. An awesome careers page filled with awesome job ads. If a candidate has made it to your careers page, they’re interested. If they’re viewing your job ad they’re invested. The last thing you want to do is turn them off with a boring page that tells them nothing about your company and the people they will be working with. Use job ads as an opportunity to market your company culture, and the details of the jobs. Job ads and branded careers pages are the introduction to your company as an employer, create something as dynamic as your business and something you can be proud of.

Be Efficient.

3. Make it as easy to apply as possible. If you’ve gone through all the trouble of creating a positive employer brand, you’ve made an amazing careers page (using the SmartRecruiters’ widget, of course), and you’ve created the most appealing job ad ever – then why lose a candidate with an hour long application process that makes them repeat the same information over and over, again? Let’s face it. The best candidates are not going to spend more than 10 minutes filling out an application, and why should they? They have options. Which you won’t have if you scare off qualified candidates with a lame application process. Applying to a job should be as easy as one-click.

Be Thoughtful.

4. Respond to all candidates regardless of the fact of them getting an interview or not. Far too many candidates go unanswered, and you know what people think of companies that don’t take the time to respond? They hate them. I know I do. In the past, I’ve literally stopped buying their product because I did not get any acknowledgement of the fact I had applied. Candidates deserve to know the status of their application. They’ve taken the time to apply, and follow-up. You can take the time to give a simple yes or no (PS it’s simple because we’ve made it simple.)

Be Awesome.

5. Last but not least, send a great job offer. It’s kind of like asking a candidate for their hand in marriage so it has to be good. Let the candidate know as their employer you’re here to support them. Accepting a job offer is not just about the money, it’s about the mission of the company and the hopes of the candidate. To ensure a candidate will say yes, emphasize how your company can help them achieve their personal goals, career goals, and professional goals.

Your perception is your reality. If you create a great candidate experience, whether the candidate gets the job or not they will always perceive you as an employer worth working for, worth buying from, or applying to again in the future. It’s not just the candidate that needs to put their best foot forward, it’s you too. The last thing you want is a candidate going around telling everyone they know how horribly they were treated as a candidate; we all know what that can do for a reputation. As easy and tempting as it is to think the candidate is the only one with something to prove, it’s just not the case.