Understanding the Candidates Journey

Offering a seamless recruitment journey is of upmost importance as it is the primary introduction for a candidate, providing an indication of the schools ethos and values. As understood, recruitment and sales are regarded as one and the same and they should be treated as such. For the purpose of this blog, consumer purchase decisions can be likened to the decision making process of a candidate when applying for a job.
 
But what is the candidate journey and why is it important to understand? Understanding the candidate journey is crucial to improving the overall candidate experience and in turn acquiring the best talent, alongside this reducing candidate drop-out rates. The market has become increasingly candidate-centric, which for traditional recruitment methods means it is becoming harder to get candidates further down the application funnel.
 
Arguably, even before initial application, the candidate will go through multiple cognitive steps in their journey. For example, when they make their final decision to apply for the role, the second phase of their recruitment journey begins.
 
Generally, it is said that are seven touchpoints within the candidate journey, as follows: Awareness, Consideration, Interest, Application, Selection, Hire and Finally, Onboarding. Of these seven, the first three touchpoints are pre-application. In this stage it is the recruiters job to ensure the recruitment marketing is engaging to reach passive job seekers. Through this, ensuring the recruitment package is both informative and attention grabbing to incite excitement from potential candidates.
 
The application process is crucial for setting out the way you communicate with your candidates as they determine a perception of your company. This is an excellent opportunity to show your candidates the values and culture of your school or trust and why they would be an asset to your team. It is also important to understand the way in which candidates are rejected in order to protect your schools integrity.
 
The selection process follows after application and interview. This step involves evaluating your candidates based on the information you’ve been given. Although traditionally this stage doesn’t involve too much communication with candidates, this would be a great opportunity for the recruiter to generate touchpoints such as sending an appreciation email to thank the candidate for their time and effort. 
 
The last step in the application process, is the Hiring process where successful candidates get hired and those unsuccessful will be contacted. The touchpoint for this stage is to call or email the candidate to let them know of the decision. Arguably, it is most important to give unsuccessful candidates considered and constructive feedback as to why on that occasion they did not gain employment. Many regard this as the last step in the application process, however this is far from the truth.
 
Ensuring a proper onboarding process is an essential part of the candidate journey with a significant impact on whether the candidate will stay past their probationary period and contribute to retention rates. It is a common mistake for recruiters, who spend so much time on the hiring process and neglect the successful hires that they have made – a practice which can be damaging.
 
Instead, the onboarding process should be considered before you hire. As understood, you don’t want to spend time, money and resources on a candidate which you could lose within their probationary period. Onboarding is a team effort, involving department leads, senior staff and HR personnel.
 
Here at MAT Recruitment, we work closely with both clients and candidates to ensure a fully communicative and tailored recruitment process. To find out more about how we can help your School or Trust through securing quality candidates contact us today on 0330 1244 363 or drop us an email to enquiries@matrecruitment.com.