Five Keys to Successful Candidate Communication

They say first impressions last, and to make sure your employer brand gets off on the right foot with job applicants, effective communication strategies are the key

Apart from possibly becoming employees, job applicants also have the potential to serve as ambassadors for your company. It’s their experiences during the application that decide whether they speak positively or negatively about you and your brand. As such, an unprofessional or careless communication strategy not only leads to disgruntled applicants but also damages your company’s reputation.

Last year, Kalibrr conducted a candidate experience survey, with the aim of determining what aspects of recruitment were causing applicants to become detractors to employers. In it, as many as 75% of candidates will not recommend companies because of not being sent timely updates about their job applications.

Indeed, this further underlines how important maintaining a consistent level of communication throughout the application process is to employer branding, which isn’t all that difficult, particularly when sporting the right tools.

Be available for questions

Even before applications begin arriving, HR should be made available for questions about the job or application process. Traditionally, the job description/s should include who is the relevant person to contact, as well as include an email address, and a phone number. This adds a personal touch, regardless of whether the applicant makes contact or not.

Granted, this is easier said than done, particularly when processing many applications. This however, doesn’t mean foregoing being accommodating altogether. By hiring through Kalibrr, communicating with all applicants is easy, thanks to a messaging feature which not only effectively places all candidates’ correspondence in one place for you, but also sends you and your applicants email and text notifications that suggests you log into your account because a new message was received.

Always acknowledge receipt of their application

If candidates have not reached out with questions, the first point of contact with them will then be when you acknowledge receipt of their application, which can heavily influence the candidate’s perception of the whole process. On Kalibrr, candidates receive a notification when their applications are received and viewed by employers, and are even encouraged to send a message to show their appreciation or to follow-up.

While an acknowledgement of receipt confirms that they have successfully applied, you can also use it as an opportunity to outline a basic timetable of how it will progress, e.g. processing times, interview schedules, etc. That way, candidates know what to expect. Via Kalibrr’s messaging feature, you can conveniently set expectations with candidates as they apply, and in turn they feel that there are indeed people behind the jobs they are applying to.

Keep them consistently updated

Like any other business process, hiring can become subject to delays. Whether it’s receiving more applications than expected, or waiting on management’s input, delays are almost always a pain to applicants. Remember, they are already subjecting themselves to employers’ scrutiny as they apply, and waiting on possible rejection certainly adds to their feeling vulnerable.

Now whether there is a delay in the process or not, being transparent and providing applicants with updates about their applications will not only help them maintain their interest in the role, but also make them feel that their time and application is not being taken for granted. On Kalibrr, updates can be easily made, again via the platform’s messaging feature, where all you’ll really have to worry about is avoiding stalling candidates for weeks, as they surely wouldn’t want to wait on a job that they may not get.

Send timely and constructive rejection messages

Speaking of not getting the job, the most sensitive aspect of hiring is surely rejecting applicants. And while it is already the most challenging task for any HR professional, it is also likely what you do the most, given that not everyone can be hired for the job. Since it can’t be avoided, it’s best to professionalize the process, and make sure that rejected candidates are promptly notified to also give them a chance to do their job search elsewhere.

In addition to the typical “we regret to inform you” email, it is helpful to provide some feedback as to why you made your decision. Remember, constructive criticism is worth its weight in gold to a candidate, and providing this is a lot less cumbersome when communicating with an easy-to-use and easy-to-organize messaging feature like the one on your Kalibrr account.

Level with your candidates

As mentioned, candidates make themselves vulnerable as they apply, and it is important to remember that they are people with emotions, and not just a list of names with boxes beside them to check or cross out. So while anonymous, mass emails might seem more convenient, messages with a personal touch is always the way to go.

Candidates, afterall, invest a great deal of time and effort in their applications and interviews, and you can acknowledge this putting in the same amount of thoughtfulness in the messages you send. Again, it might seem cumbersome, but that is if you opt to use your standard communication lines like phones company email. With the ease in sending and storing messages on Kalibrr, making correspondence personalized is just as easy.

Varying studies have shown that around 80-90% of candidates would re-apply for a different role within a company if they have a good experience during their initial application process- and this even if they were rejected. Additionally, when they are communicated to with honesty and respect, they not only reapply, but also recommend the company to other applicants and have a strengthened belief in its overall brand or business.

Create a great candidate experience as early as when they see your jobs by posting and hiring on Kalibrr. From storing applications for each job and advancing candidates to each stage of the hiring process, to communicating with each of them and setting schedules for exams or interviews, you can do everything you need on the platform, leaving you less administrative tasks to do, and more time to find and reach out to the best job candidates.

For more information on Kalibrr and its employer account features, contact us today.

Kalibrr is a technology company that aims to transform how candidates find jobs and how companies hire talent. Placing the candidate experience at the center of everything it does, the company continues to attract the best talents from all over, with more than 2.7 million professionals and counting. Kalibrr ultimately connects these talents to companies in search of their next generation of leaders.

The only end-to-end recruitment solutions provider in Southeast Asia, Kalibrr is headquartered in Makati, Philippines, with offices in San Francisco, California and Jakarta, Indonesia. Established in 2012, it has served over 18,000 clients, and is backed by some of the world’s most powerful start-up incubators and venture capitalists. These include Y Combinator, Omidyar Network, Patamar Capital, Wavemaker Partners, and Kickstart Ventures.

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