Candidate Experience: Trends You Need to Know in 2024
Candidate Experience: Trends You Need to Know in 2024
Discover the latest candidate experience benchmarks from the 2024 report. Get key findings, recommendations, and expert tips to enhance your hiring process.
As a talent acquisition professional, staying attuned to the latest trends and benchmarks in candidate experience is crucial for attracting top talent and staying competitive in an ever-evolving job market. That's why I always eagerly anticipate the release of Phenom's annual State of Candidate Experience Benchmarks Report.
The 2024 edition, which evaluated the Fortune 500 from September 2023 to February 2024, offers valuable insights into how some of the world's leading brands are leveraging technology, content, and strategy to engage job seekers at every stage of the talent journey. By examining the career sites, application processes, and candidate communication practices of these top companies, the report provides a comprehensive look at the current state of candidate experience and identify key areas for improvement.
What makes this report particularly noteworthy is its focus on the role of artificial intelligence in shaping candidate interactions and perceptions. As AI becomes increasingly integrated into talent acquisition tools and workflows, understanding how to harness its potential to personalize and streamline the candidate experience at scale is more important than ever.
Some of the most impactful findings from the 2024 report include:
Only 12% of companies provide thoroughly personalized job recommendations based on candidate profiles and behavior
Just 37% effectively convey their employee value proposition and employer brand across the talent journey.
A mere 24% utilize chatbots to proactively engage candidates and automate key processes like screening and scheduling
0% of companies communicated application status to the candidate after the initial email confirming submission of an application
These statistics underscore the significant opportunity for companies to differentiate themselves and gain a competitive edge by prioritizing candidate experience. By taking steps to authentically showcase their culture, tailor content to individual job seekers, simplify the application process, and ensure regular communication, employers can boost conversion rates and build a stronger talent pipeline!
What Is Candidate Experience
Before diving into the findings of the 2024 report, let's take a moment to define exactly what we mean by "candidate experience." In essence, candidate experience encompasses every interaction a job seeker has with your organization throughout the recruiting process, from the moment they first encounter your brand to the point of hire or rejection.
This journey often begins with a visit to your career site, where candidates gain their first impression of your employer brand and available opportunities. It extends through the job search and application process, including any communication or assessments along the way. Interviews, whether virtual or in-person, are also crucial touchpoints that can make or break a candidate's perception of your company. Finally, the way you handle the offer or rejection stage also plays a significant role in shaping the overall experience.
A positive candidate experience is one that is seamless, informative, and engaging at every stage. It leaves job seekers feeling respected, valued, and excited about the prospect of joining your team, even if they ultimately do not receive an offer. On the flip side, a negative candidate experience is characterized by friction, inconsistency, and lack of transparency, leaving job seekers frustrated and discouraged.
Why does candidate experience matter? In today's competitive talent market, a standout candidate experience can be the differentiating factor that attracts top performers to your organization over others. It also has significant implications for your employer brand and reputation. In the age of social media and online review sites, bad candidate experiences can quickly go viral and deter others from applying. Conversely, great experiences generate positive word-of-mouth and cultivate a talent pool of enthusiastic brand advocates.
Key Findings from the 2024 Report
1. Personalization Remains a Missed Opportunity
One of the most striking findings from the 2024 report is the persistent lack of personalization in candidate experiences. Despite the widespread availability of AI and automation tools, only 12% of companies provide job recommendations based on candidate profiles and behavior. Even fewer - just 9% - personalize the broader candidate experience with tailored content and communications.
In an era where consumers expect Netflix-level personalization in all their digital interactions, this represents a major missed opportunity for employers. Candidates increasingly expect a job search experience that feels customized to their unique skills, interests, and aspirations. Companies that fail to deliver this risk losing top talent to more savvy competitors.
2. Authentic Employer Branding is Essential
Another key insight from the report is the importance of authentically conveying your employer value proposition (EVP) and culture throughout the candidate journey. A mere 37% of companies were found to effectively showcase their EVP across touchpoints like the career site, job descriptions, and employee testimonials.
In a crowded talent market, a compelling EVP is crucial for standing out and attracting candidates who are the right fit for your organization. But it's not enough to simply state your values and benefits - you need to bring them to life with engaging, employee-driven content that gives candidates a true sense of what it's like to work at your company.
3. AI-powered Chatbots Are Game-Changers
The 2024 report also highlights the growing importance of chatbots in the candidate experience. While usage has increased since previous years, still only 20% of companies employ chatbots to engage candidates and automate key processes.
When implemented effectively, chatbots can be transformative for the candidate experience, providing instant answers to common questions, personalizing content recommendations, and even conducting initial screenings. They enable a level of responsiveness and efficiency that would be impossible to achieve with human recruiters alone. As candidate expectations for immediacy and 24/7 availability continue to rise, chatbots will become an increasingly essential tool.
4. Communication Remains the Achilles Heel
Perhaps the most disappointing finding from the report is the ongoing struggle of employers to maintain consistent communication with candidates. Companies fail to provide application status updates beyond the initial confirmation, leaving candidates in the dark and potentially damaging their perception of the organization.
Regular communication is the bedrock of a positive candidate experience. Even if the process is lengthy or the ultimate outcome is a rejection, candidates deeply appreciate transparency and respect for their time. Employers who prioritize consistent, informative communication at every stage of the funnel will be well-positioned to build lasting candidate relationships.
Key Recommendations from the Report
1. Harness AI for Hyper-Personalization at Scale
To address the personalization gap, the report recommends leveraging AI-powered tools to deliver tailored experiences at every stage of the candidate journey. This includes:
Using machine learning algorithms to recommend relevant jobs based on candidate profiles and behavior
Dynamically adapting content and messaging on the career site and in communications based on candidate preferences and demographics
Implementing chatbots that can provide personalized answers, resources, and next steps based on the candidate's unique needs and questions
By harnessing AI to personalize at scale, recruiters can create candidate experiences that feel custom-crafted for each individual while still being efficient and manageable from an organizational perspective.
2. Showcase Authentic Employee Stories
Bringing your EVP and culture to life requires going beyond generic statements to showcase real employee stories and perspectives. The report recommends:
Featuring diverse employee testimonials and day-in-the-life content on the career site and social media
Empowering employees to share their experiences via user-generated content like blog posts, videos, and social media takeovers
Integrating employee quotes and anecdotes into job descriptions to paint a more vivid picture of the role and team
By amplifying authentic employee voices, recruiters can give candidates a genuine and relatable window into the organization's culture and values.
3. Optimize for Mobile-First Apply
With the majority of job seekers now using mobile devices for their search, the report emphasizes the importance of a mobile-first apply process. This means:
Ensuring your career site is fully responsive and loads quickly on mobile devices
Streamlining the application process to minimize the number of steps and fields required
Offering mobile-friendly features like "one-click apply" and the ability to auto-fill with resume details from cloud storage
A seamless mobile apply experience not only improves conversion rates but also signals to candidates that your organization is technologically forward-thinking and candidate-centric.
4. Implement a Communication Cadence
To fix the communication gap, the report recommends establishing a standardized communication cadence for every stage of the candidate journey. This includes:
Setting clear expectations upfront about the hiring timeline and process
Sending timely updates after each milestone, such as application received, initial screening, interviews, and final decision
Providing closure to all candidates, even those who are rejected, with personalized feedback where possible
Offering a feedback mechanism for candidates to share their experiences and suggestions
By implementing a consistent and transparent communication cadence, recruiters can demonstrate respect for candidates' time and effort, build trust, and leave a positive impression even when the outcome is not an offer.
Candidate Experience in 2024
The 2024 State of Candidate Experience report makes it clear that while some organizations are making strides, there are still significant gaps between candidate expectations and the reality of most hiring processes.
Creating a world-class candidate experience is not just the responsibility of recruiters - it requires a company-wide commitment and collaboration across functions. From hiring managers crafting inclusive job descriptions to marketing teams amplifying employee stories to IT departments ensuring a seamless application process, everyone has a role to play.
As we look ahead to the future of candidate experience, one thing is clear: the organizations that prioritize it as a strategic imperative will be the ones that win the talent. By putting candidates at the center of everything we do and constantly striving to exceed their expectations, we can build more diverse, engaged, and high-performing teams that drive our businesses forward.
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My Recruiter Recommendations
As someone who has been in the talent acquisition trenches for many years, I've seen firsthand the impact that a great candidate experience can have on recruiting outcomes. While the findings and recommendations from the 2024 report are spot-on, I wanted to share a few additional insights based on my own experiences and observations: