Shhh! The Candidates Are Talking: What 60 Million Conversations Can Teach Us About the Candidate Experience.
My amazing dad used to always tell me, ‘You have two ears and one mouth for a reason.’ As you can imagine, he said this because I tend to talk a lot—and loudly. I never needed a mic, if you catch my drift. But like many things in life, my dad was right. We do have two ears and one mouth, but when it comes to truly understanding a candidate’s needs and desires, it seems like we often forget why we have them.
When everyone is an expert in the creator economy, which is expected to hit $525 billion by 2030, it’s never been more important to start listening to our candidates, all candidates, because they have a lot to say, especially on social media.
My firm embarked on the first broad-scale social listening study on the candidate experience three years ago. We wanted to know what they said about looking for, applying to, interviewing with, getting rejected, getting an offer, and starting a new job. So, we observed and listened. You see, social media has made it so that everyone can share their feelings and opinions and post them.
When we first started listening, we discovered over 60 million conversations about the candidate experience. To put it in perspective, the Super Bowl racked up 10+ million conversations, and the Olympics were at 20+ million. So you can see. The candidate experience is an enormous conversation.
We did this social listening study for a candidate experience study to obtain their sentiment and better understand their desires. The results from the initial study painted a stark picture. We’ve discovered that people don’t always love their work or their tasks after coming aboard. And based on these findings, we offered three essential tips to ensure employers move the needle toward a positive candidate experience:
- Set expectations for your hiring process. Let them know what to expect, what happens next, and a rough timeline.
- Break down the barriers. Tell them what it’s really like to work there—for real—and honestly describe the job and work to them.
- Stop overselling in the beginning just to disappoint them in the end. Companies use tactics to position or market themselves out of their problems. It’s not working.
What makes me a little sad is that these three tips are pretty low-hanging fruit, and yet, here we are three years after the study, and the needle hasn’t moved (sigh).
However, we’re gearing up for another candidate experience study, and I’ve got a hunch (okay, I already know) that the sentiment will be worse than before. Why? Employers have a massive disconnect between what job seekers want and what’s being delivered today.
Nevertheless, as we embark on this new research, my goal is to help the industry learn, understand, and take action when attracting talent and converting them based on the candidates’ needs and desires. I hope companies will step up this time and be brave enough to listen to, understand, and act on the candidates’ desires.