Did you know? 76% of people say that not hearing back from an employer after a job interview is more frustrating than not hearing from someone after a first date.

Making sure that your candidates’ interactions with your company end on a positive note is crucial. This article breaks down crucial statistics associated with Candidate Experience, highlighting why professionals working in TA, RecOps, Employer Branding, or Company Leadership should pay close attention.

The State of Candidate Experience

• 78% of candidates report never being asked for feedback following the hiring process.
• Only 17% of employers measure Candidate Experience at every possible opportunity
• 44% of employers only measure Candidate Experience once a candidate has been hired
• 58% of candidates have turned down an offer because of poor Candidate Experience
• 46% of candidates believe their time was disrespected during interviews

Stats for Talent Acquisition Professionals

• Candidate Experience is increasingly relevant to assessing recruiter performance. 64% of companies tie recruiter performance to positive Candidate Experience figures.
• Our research found that feedback given to candidates has the highest correlation with Candidate NPS for rejected candidates. 
• Talent is 4x more likely to consider your company for future applications if they receive feedback

Stats for Recruitment Operations Professionals

• 60% of candidates have stopped an application halfway through because of length or complexity. Applications that contain less than a dozen fields see the best results. 
• 65% of candidates say they rarely or never receive an update on their application. 
• Out of those who received updates, 52% of candidates say they had to wait 3 or more months.
• 80% of candidates say they would not consider other relevant job listings if a company doesn’t notify them of their outcome. 
• Candidates who are notified of their outcome are 3.5x more likely to reapply to a different position with the same company
• Organizations that strongly invest in Candidate Experience see their average quality of hire improve by 70%, saving potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars on avoiding bad hires.
• Happy candidates are 38% more likely to accept a job offer, leading to less withdrawals and much less wasted time. 
• 65% of companies recognize that they should improve their internal mobility and consider internal candidates more, and employees stay 41% longer at companies with high internal mobility

Stats for Employer Branding Professionals

• 75% of candidates say that they consider employer branding before they begin to apply 
• As many as 86% of candidates check Glassdoor ratings before applying to a company. 
• 55% of candidates who check Glassdoor do not apply to companies with poor ratings on their page.
• 25% of unhappy candidates will also actively discourage others in their personal networks from applying to a company, damaging your reputation and shrinking your pool of potential talent. 
• 66% of candidates say a positive Candidate Experience raises their chances of referring others, with the number jumping up to 79% for companies with truly exceptional Candidate Experience. 
• 78% of candidates say that their overall Candidate Experience is an indicator of how a company values its employees
• 85% of candidates says that a positive or negative Candidate Experience can change their opinion of a company

Stats for Company Leadership

• Having happier candidates leads to happier employees, and Candidate Experience doesn’t stop once they’re hired. 70% of those with an exceptional onboarding experience say they have “the best possible job” and are 2.6x more likely to be “extremely satisfied” and have a longer tenure.
• Employee satisfaction is a proven booster of performance, and it starts before the hiring process is complete. Happy candidates are more likely to be happy employees, and companies with a happy workforce are 21% more profitable.
• 77% of candidates who have a negative experience with your company will share it with their networks. If that’s not bad enough, 41% to 50% of unhappy candidates will simply not do business with you - and if they’re not buying your products, you can assume that they’re telling their family and friends not to, either. 
• Positive Candidate Experience has the same effect, but reversed: 65% of happy candidates are likely to do business with you again.

What Drives Candidate NPS?

If you are curious what candidate data shows about the latest trends in hiring, read our latest Hiring Benchmarks report consisting of  2.5M+ hiring experiences and nearly 70,000 candidate comments collected through the Starred platform. This report reveals the signals shaping hiring performance today. From the growing impact of automation at the top of the hiring funnel to the increasing importance of clear expectation setting, the findings highlight where hiring processes are improving and where friction still exists. The report breaks down how hiring performance and candidate sentiment vary across industries, company sizes, departments and applicant sources, helping Talent Acquisition teams understand where their process stands and where are the biggest opportunities for improvement.

If you care about hiring performance and are curious about where hiring is heading, read the full report here.

Conclusion

Taken together, these stats, facts, and figures provide a solid foundation why Candidate Experience should be a priority for all parties involved in recruiting. Paying close attention to how your candidates feel about your company will not only provide you with a wealth of insights and feedback on optimizing your own hiring process, but it’ll also make you stand out from the crowd.

Curious how you can get an understanding of where your Candidate Experience stands? Get in touch to see how we can help.