Candidate Experience (CX) is becoming an increasingly important topic in the HR world. While there’s no shortage of articles discussing its importance, there’s often less focus on how to actually implement it. So, I decided to share a few thoughts based on the collective work of our People Experience team, and offer some practical advice.

When Does Candidate Experience Start?

Candidate Experience starts the moment a potential candidate encounters your company—whether through your Employer Branding (EB) efforts or as a user of your product. Interacting with your product or service as a customer offers the first glimpse into the company culture and the people behind it. If a candidate is considering a job change, they may come across your Employer Branding initiatives, or those initiatives may find them.

Employer Branding Tips

While much has been written about this stage, it’s crucial to align your EB actions with your company’s Employer Value Proposition (EVP), which should be grounded in reality. Avoid overpromising or making exaggerated claims. Present the real version of your company. If you’re informal and casual, your communication should reflect that. For example, on social media, show real photos of your team, not stock images. Make your job ads easy to find—not just on job boards but also on social media channels. Even your videos should be natural and unscripted, allowing individuals to speak freely.

Recruitment Tips

Now let’s dive into the biggest part: recruitment. Let’s imagine that your Employer Branding efforts caught the attention of a candidate, and they’ve decided to apply. The first step is the application form. Avoid asking for unnecessary information. Do you really need them to rewrite their entire CV? Why ask for a cover letter if it’s not required? We keep it simple: name, email address, phone number, CV (or LinkedIn profile), salary expectations, and notice period. We also ask where the candidate heard about your company (for EB tracking). That’s it. Once the application is submitted, candidates automatically receive a “thank you” email from the ATS.

Next, candidates are invited to schedule a call (phone or video) via a booking link. It’s synchronized with your calendar tool, so candidates can select a time that works for both parties, with automatic confirmation.

Throughout the process, the communication is direct and casual. Instead of using formal titles, we prefer a “you” approach, making the conversation feel more personal. This style is particularly effective in some countries, where formality in business interactions can still be common, but we’ve found that a relaxed tone helps to establish a more authentic connection.

Interview Process

The next step is the interview. Besides the recruiter, the hiring manager or a team member is usually involved in the process. It’s rare to have an interview conducted solely by HR.

During the interview, the goal is to get to know the person and see if there’s a mutual fit, not to judge or evaluate them. Here’s how we approach it:

1. Start with casual small talk to help ease any tension.
2. Briefly introduce your company—who you are, how long you’ve been in the business, and your goals.
3. Keep the conversation friendly, with back-and-forth questions and answers. It’s not an exam—both parties should learn from each other. We’ve often learned something valuable from candidates too. Curiosity is key!
4. Focus on the role by discussing the challenges it entails. Use case studies to illustrate what the job is about.
5. Avoid asking repetitive questions—take notes in your ATS to ensure you’re not asking the same thing multiple times.
6. Always give candidates time to ask their questions.
7. Inject some humor, but keep it respectful—show the candidate your team dynamic, but never make jokes at their expense.
8. Be honest—if you don’t know something, admit it. This happens, especially when a new position is being opened and the details are still in flux.

Hiring managers play a critical role. On one hand, they can inspire and show candidates the vision for the role. On the other, they can be the reason a candidate decides not to accept an offer. To mitigate this, we regularly train managers and those involved in the recruitment process to ensure they know what to do at each step. Feedback is a crucial part of this training—we provide constructive feedback to managers after interviews to help them improve. After all, we’re all aiming to hire the best talent for the team.

What If We Know Within 10 Minutes That a Candidate Isn’t a Fit?

Sometimes, within the first few minutes, it becomes clear that a candidate isn’t the right fit. In such cases:

1. If it’s due to a clear mismatch, such as language skills or a key qualification, we communicate it immediately.
2. If it’s based on gut feeling, we give the candidate more time—sometimes it’s more about us than about the candidate. Our experience shows that sometimes people need more time to open up and reveal their potential.

We also make sure candidates understand that our recruitment process includes multiple stages. From the start, we emphasize that the process is designed for both parties to gather all the necessary information to make a well-informed decision.

Feedback Culture: Essential for Great CX

Feedback is a cornerstone of our company culture, and we integrate it into the recruitment process as well. Feedback flows throughout the process, and we ensure that it’s constructive and timely.

For instance, when disqualifying a candidate, we ask for their feedback through a survey, which includes questions like:

• Who was your recruiter?
• How did you feel about the recruitment process?
• What did you like about the recruitment process?
• What did you not like about it?
• Would you recommend others to apply?

We’re proud to report that the feedback we receive consistently scores above 8.5.

Additionally, we ask candidates to leave reviews on platforms like Glassdoor, so we can continuously improve the experience for future applicants.

The most telling sign that our Candidate Experience is working is that candidates return. We’ve had candidates who didn’t accept an offer initially but came back a year or two later and successfully completed the process. We’ve also had candidates who were disqualified but worked on the feedback they received and eventually joined our team. Some candidates recommend us to their friends or colleagues, which is the best compliment we could ask for.

Isn’t It Time-Consuming?

Many people think that focusing on Candidate Experience is time-consuming, but the reality is that neglecting it is far more costly. If you don’t prioritize CX, you’ll end up spending more time and money on Employer Branding, recruitment marketing, and convincing people to join your company. A good CX spreads through social media, but it also spreads face-to-face—though you might not be able to track that. Ultimately, the goal is to ensure that even candidates who don’t make it through the process leave with a positive impression of your company as a great place to work.