Organizations often find themselves competing over the same top talent as their competitors. This is why Candidate Experience matters more than ever, as it can give you the competitive advantage you're missing. In this chapter, we'll answer the most frequently asked questions on the "when" of candidate surveys, and help you understand the key moments to ask for candidate feedback.
Why Send Candidate Experience Surveys?
During a presentation at the HR conference UNLEASH in London, Stephen Reilly from Mott MacDonald presented an image showing two job seekers, one hired and one rejected - both smiling. He defined it as The Holy Grail because this is probably something you will never fully achieve, but you should keep on striving for it nonetheless.
We know from our years of experience and benchmark data that giving a positive Candidate Experience to candidates who have been rejected is hard. But that doesn't make it any less important. On the contrary, it should always be your goal.
Positive Candidate Experience has a direct impact on your brand and can prevent issues that may arise from negative online reviews or social media posts that deter future applicants. Candidates can negatively impact your Employer Brand by sharing their dissatisfaction on sites like Glassdoor and discussing issues such as a poorly designed career site, unclear job descriptions, and unprofessional interview processes. A good Candidate Experience fosters trust, reduces drop-off rates, and encourages continuous improvement in your company.
When to send a Candidate Experience survey?
The right time is key when it comes to sending your Candidate Experience survey. Sending it at the right moment can significantly increase your response rates, give your candidates a place to vent, and result in the most valuable insights.
We recommend sending out the Candidate Experience survey a maximum of two times during the recruitment process: after the application and at the end of the recruiting process. More than that could lead to survey fatigue and biased responses.
If you are interested in gathering data about the application process (including attraction and brand image), you can send a survey at the beginning of the process right after the candidates have applied.
However, the most valuable feedback is gathered from candidates the moment they leave the hiring funnel, while the experience is still fresh in their minds. There are three scenarios when this happens: after the rejection, after the hiring decision, and if your candidate chooses to withdraw their job application.
Our benchmark data shows that putting a smile on the faces of hired candidates is pretty easy, with a positive cNPS of +80. Naturally, rejected candidates are more likely to report a poor Candidate Experience, with a negative NPS score of -5 cNPS, while withdrawn candidates score somewhere in between having an average of +39 cNPS.
Let's look at these three situations when candidates are exiting the candidate journey in more detail:
Rejected Candidates
In Chapter 2, we talked about how important rejected candidates are for measuring the cNPS. Now let's discuss other factors why unsuccessful applicants are essential for your candidate insights.
Rejected candidates outnumber hired candidates by multiples, and as a result, they define your reputation as a company to apply for. In 2023, the applicant-to-interview ratio was 2%. This means that for every 100 applicants a job posting received, only 2 of those applicants were invited to interview for the role.
You need to focus on the survey data by rejected job applicants as they are the best candidates to comment on the most problematic aspects of your hiring process. Rejected candidates have no reason to sugarcoat their feedback; they’ll share honest insights, which are critical for identifying areas of improvement in your recruitment strategy.
Another example of why you should focus on this group is they could also very well be your customers or subscribers and cut ties due to their poor candidate satisfaction. That could hurt your business substantially, as we learned from the Virgin Media case. Virgin Media was losing $6 million each year in potential sales revenue as a consequence of the negative Candidate Experience. When they revised it, it became a $7 million revenue stream.
It's best to send the survey shortly after the candidate has been rejected, regardless of which stage they reached—whether it's after the application, phone screen, interview, or assessment. Tailoring the survey to the specific stage will significantly improve the quality of feedback you receive.
Hired Candidates
Hired candidates are the happiest group in the recruitment process, and their feedback can provide valuable insights into what’s working well in your candidate journey. While they’ve landed the job, their experience still shapes their perception of your company and can influence their retention and engagement.
Hired candidates can give feedback about every aspect of the recruitment process as they have experienced it all. How did your new hires rate the overall selection process? How did they experience the contact with the hiring manager, interview stage, and offer stage?
Their feedback can be used to understand the overall flow of the hiring funnel, however, the new hires may be hesitant to share negative feedback, fearing it could reflect poorly on them. Anonymity and transparency of the surveys will encourage more honest answers.
Withdrawn Candidates
Withdrawn candidates represent a unique and often overlooked group in the Candidate Experience. These are individuals who chose to leave your hiring process, and understanding why can offer crucial insights into potential shortcomings.
When candidates withdraw, it’s easy to assume they were simply uninterested or found another opportunity. However, their reasons could stem from issues within your process, for example, long delays, lack of clarity about the role, or a misalignment with the company's culture.
An effective Candidate Experience survey can help you pinpoint these areas and make adjustments to reduce dropout rates in the future. Keep the survey short and straightforward, focusing on questions that explore their decision to withdraw and what could have changed their mind.
How to avoid bias in Candidate Surveys?
We speak to companies that would like to gather every candidate's data for all stages of the recruitment process: from a candidate's first job search, the job application process, the interview process, and onboarding. But is that the right thing to do?
If you send the questionnaire after every step, consider that many candidates are hoping to go through to the next round. So you might be receiving biased and falsely positive feedback, which defeats the purpose of measuring Candidate Experience in the first place. Besides, asking your candidates to score and comment on their experience after every stage in the candidate journey is quite a heavy burden.
For example, a candidate who has just completed an initial phone screen might rate their experience highly, expecting to move forward. However, if they are later rejected, their overall perception of the process might change. Gathering feedback only in the beginning and the end ensures you capture their complete perspective, leading to more accurate and informed decisions.
Best Time for Sending Candidate Experience Surveys
Now that we’ve clarified that surveys are best sent after the last stage of the hiring process, the next question is timing: how long should you wait before sending the survey?
Our research shows that a 2-4 day delay after the communication of the final hiring decision is important to get the most accurate feedback. In our 2023 Benchmark Report, we examined the cNPS against the time that passed after the candidate received either a job offer or a rejection and discovered that candidates' responses are initially more positive, rapidly become more negative, and finally stabilize between the two.
This suggests that candidates with extreme reactions—either very positive or negative—are the first to complete the Candidate Experience survey, followed by the others.
Opting for this 48-96 hour timeframe gives candidates a moment to process the outcome, so their responses are less likely to be clouded by strong reactions, yet recent enough for them to remember key aspects of their experience.
Tip from Starred:
To make this step easy, we recommend using an automated survey tool, like Starred, and integrating it with your Applicant Tracking System. It will greatly simplify the feedback collection process and ensure consistency at every stage. Automated systems can help set delays tailored to your specific hiring workflow and avoid extra work for recruiters with manual follow-ups.
For instance, with Starred, you can schedule survey invitations to be sent automatically after a recruiter communicates a rejection to the candidates. Afterwards, they will receive the Candidate Experience survey 48 hours after receiving the rejection email. This not only eliminates the hassle of manually timing and sending invitations but also ensures that surveys reach candidates at the optimal moment for honest feedback.
What's next?
Sending out the Candidate Experience survey at the right time not only impacts the quality of your data and response rates but also has a significant impact on the whole hiring process and your Employer Brand. That's why we hope this chapter answered all of your "when" questions and you can move forward with the best practices in mind!
Our next chapter dives deeper into "What to ask in an after-interview survey?", helping you learn how to collect rich data by asking the right questions. We recommend reading it to find more helpful tips on understanding how candidates perceive your company and how TA teams can use this feedback to improve their hiring strategy!