How to Improve Candidate Experience with Better Processes
Nail the process and win the talent: Here’s what I’ve learned about the candidate experience…
After decades in recruitment, I’ve learned this one truth the hard way: candidates remember how you make them feel.
Candidates are the lifeblood of any recruitment business. Treat them right, and you’ll build a host of loyal advocates who will rave, return and refer others for years. Treat them badly and they can sink your brand faster than you can say “Glassdoor review.”
Too many recruitment firms obsess over client satisfaction and treat candidate experience like an afterthought, if they consider it at all. In today’s hyper-competitive market, that’s a dangerous game to play. Candidates are also an important customer group. When you neglect them, you’re not only leaving money on the table, you’re also creating vulnerabilities in your talent pipeline that your competitors will be happy to exploit.
Experience is the new dealbreaker
Recruitment’s power dynamic has shifted. Candidates have more choice, more insight, and more platforms to share their experiences, both good and bad.
And clients are watching too.
Remember when a disgruntled candidate would just grumble to a few mates? Those days are gone. Now, one bad experience can become a LinkedIn post, a Glassdoor rant, or a viral tweet shared with thousands of potential candidates - and clients. This can drive decision-making and shape opinions at lightning speed. Nearly 75% of candidates share negative experiences - and that ripple effect can torpedo your reputation overnight.
Top talent won't wait
The best candidates, the ones your clients are desperate to hire, will have multiple opportunities on the go. If your recruitment process is slow, clunky and filled with friction, they will start to look elsewhere. I worked with one finance recruiter who lost three top tier candidates to a competitor, simply because the other agency had a faster, smoother process.
Clients will notice when you get it wrong
When candidates withdraw because they feel disrespected or overlooked, clients will start to ask questions. Doubt creeps in. They’ll wonder if you can effectively represent their brand. One poor review can trigger a tough conversation that costs you a retainer.
Don’t be short-sighted about your candidates
It’s not just your reputation that suffers. Your profits will too. Remember when Virgin Media discovered that poor candidate experience was costing them over £4 million annually in lost customer revenue? Those same candidates who had terrible experiences were also customers, and they were cancelling their subscriptions.
The same principle applies to recruitment firms—candidates are always potential future clients. I’ve seen this play out time and time again. Most recently with a tech recruiter that lost a major account because they’d treated a candidate poorly—only to find out that same candidate became the company’s new procurement director two years later.
Today’s candidate could be tomorrow’s decision maker. Every interaction counts.
The Bridge Programme, the 3-2-1 Rule, and some other real-world process improvements that completely transform candidate experience
After decades of working in the industry, I've identified five critical process improvements that deliver the biggest impact on candidate experience. These aren't just feel-good changes—they're strategic improvements that boost your business metrics.
1. Streamline your application process and walk in your customers’ shoes.
The application often marks a candidate's first direct interaction with your recruitment process.
So make it count.
I’ve reviewed far too many application processes that are needlessly lengthy, request duplicate information, or force candidates to create accounts they'll never use again. This creates immediate friction and signals to candidates that their time isn't valued. Drop off rates here should be monitored carefully.
One recruitment firm I worked with reduced their application form from 22 fields to just 7. They kept only the essentials and moved the nice-to-haves to later in the process. This resulted in a 38% increase in completed applications, with no dip in quality.
I'm amazed at how many recruitment websites still have application forms that are almost impossible to complete on a phone. Over 60% of candidates apply via mobile devices. If your form isn’t mobile-friendly, you're losing people before they even get started.
My advice? Be a customer. Test the application process yourself. If it takes more than 5 minutes or annoys you even a little - fix it.
2. To build trust, communicate like a human.
People hate to be left in the dark. In candidate experience surveys, communication breakdowns consistently rank as the number one complaint. We all know how this happens: recruiters get busy, days pass without updates. Silence can feel like rejection. Candidates feel forgotten and undervalued.
The solution isn't just sending more automated messages. You need to establish communication rhythms that feel personal, thoughtful and human.
I recently advised a retail recruitment specialist who nailed this approach by implementing a simple framework they called "The 3-2-1 Rule":
Candidates hear from them within 3 hours of applying
They receive interview preparation within 2 days of shortlisting
Then they get feedback within 1 business day of interviews
Their candidate satisfaction scores jumped almost 50% in three months.
Automation has its place of course, but genuine communication builds trust. Train your team to view communication as a non-negotiable, not an optional extra. Make it part of the process. The most successful firms I work with have communication checkpoints built directly into their ATS workflow, with alerts for overdue communications.
3. Rethink your (client) interview process.
The interview stage is where candidates form their strongest impressions about your firm and your clients.
The interview is a big emotional investment for candidates. They are excited to have the opportunity, they prepare like crazy and when post interview feedback is delayed or non-existent, they are completely deflated. This happens far too often. And it damages trust - not just in the recruiter, but in the client too.
A technology recruitment firm I advised implemented a 24-hour feedback rule: all interview feedback had to be delivered to candidates within one business day of their interview.. This single change made a massive impact. They dramatically improved their candidate survey scores and increased their offer acceptance rate by 23%.
Of course, they made their clients aware of this rule at the outset - setting high expectations and meeting them!
4. Don’t ghost after the offer. Develop a consistent onboarding pathway.
The gap between offer acceptance and start date is a danger zone.
After the excitement of an offer acceptance, communication often drops off a cliff. Candidates feel abandoned during a period of uncertainty when they're potentially turning down other opportunities or leaving secure employment.
A financial services recruiter I advised created what they called a "Bridge Programme"—a structured six-step communication plan for the period between offer acceptance and start date.
It included regular check-ins including a ”How’d the resignation conversation go?” call, and a few well-timed personal touches. It allowed for space and time to address any wobbles or concerns. And since implementation, offer reneges have dropped dramatically.
The best firms assign specific team members the responsibility for pre-start date engagement. They treat this period as carefully as they would the interview stage.
5. Automate the right things, just not everything.
Automation can significantly improve candidate experience, when applied thoughtfully. But there’s a difference between being efficient and being robotic.
I see firms either over-automating, which results in an impersonal experience, or under-automating, which creates inefficiencies and delays.
The trick is finding the right balance.
Initial application confirmations, basic screening, scheduling - these are perfect for automation. But keep high-value interactions—interview feedback, offer discussions, rejection conversations for promising candidates—personal and consultant-led.
I worked with one IT recruitment company that automated their initial screening but included a brilliant twist: candidates received an automated confirmation, but it came with a personalized video from the recruiter who would be handling their application, explaining next steps and setting expectations.. It made a huge impression.
Automate the admin but humanise the moments that matter.
Remember, when you make improvements, measure their impact.
Process improvements should always tie back to measurable business outcomes. The smartest firms I’ve worked with watch the metrics that matter: candidate satisfaction scores, application completion rates, candidate withdrawal rates, time-to-fill positions, offer acceptance rates, referral rates from candidates, and reapplication rates from previous candidates.
One boutique recruitment firm I advised started tracking what they called their "Candidate Promoter Score". This is similar to a Net Promoter Score but focuses specifically on whether candidates would recommend their firm to others.
Within six months, they could directly correlate improvements in this score to a rise in referral placements.
So where to begin?
In all my years in recruitment, one thing has never changed: people remember how you made them feel.
Improving candidate experience through better processes doesn't happen overnight, but you can start making meaningful changes immediately.
Don’t try to fix everything at once. Start by mapping your candidate journey—from first touch to placement and beyond. Where do people drop out? Where are the pain points? What feedback have you received about difficult or confusing stages? (If you’re not collecting feedback - start!)
Look for quick wins. These are things that are easy to fix but will make a big difference fast. Small victories build momentum—and show your team (and your candidates) that you’re serious about doing better. This builds support for more extensive changes.
Implement changes systematically, measuring results at each stage. Don't try to overhaul everything at once. Pick one area, perfect it, then move on.
If you want to future-proof your business, start treating candidate experience as a strategic business advantage. The firms that thrive in this industry aren’t just great at winning clients. They’re brilliant at treating everyone like customers worth impressing.
I’d love to hear from my network on which pain points they hear about most – and which are the easiest or hardest to fix! Contact me at jacky@thesatoripartnership.com or connect with me on LinkedIn.
Authored by: Jacky Carter, Principal at The Satori Partnership
Jacky Carter is a transformative executive with over 36 years of experience in the talent and recruitment sector. Her unique expertise spans operations, underpinned by a natural growth mindset, curiosity, and a drive to champion change, all while maintaining a total commitment to the customer and their experience. Jacky is a visionary leader who has helped reshape the way recruitment is approached and executed in the modern business world.