Nowadays, if we have a bad experience at a restaurant, hotel or with a company, we don’t think twice about sharing our experience with others. We don’t just tell friends and family – we broadcast our story to the world, through the likes of social media and peer review sites.
In the same way, candidates inadvertently judge your school’s entire recruitment process, from the brand awareness stage – i.e. learning about your school via its Facebook page – through to applying for a role, to the interview process and follow-up.
There’s no doubt that technology has granted candidates more power and a greater voice. Deliver a poor candidate experience early on in the process, and it could prevent candidates from converting into applicants. Deliver a bad experience later on, and those candidates could spread a negative word about your school and put others off applying.
Here are some interesting stats:
– 78% of people say the overall candidate experience is an indicator of how a company values its people.
– 80-90% of talent believe the candidate experience can change their minds about a job or company.
– Almost 60% of job-seekers have had a bad candidate experience, with 72% sharing their experience on online employer review sites.
– People who are happy with their candidate experience are 38% more likely to accept a job offer.
A poor candidate experience could end up tarnishing your school’s reputation. But aside from that, candidates deserve a positive experience. If your school is consistently losing talent to other schools, it’s a sign that there’s a glitch somewhere in your recruitment process.
Suffice to say, there’s a lot of factors involved in creating a positive hiring experience and giving every candidate a great first impression of your school. But here are three factors we believe are absolutely essential:
1. Optimised job ads
Tech is evolving and recruiters need to keep pace. Mobile is now heavily integrated within the job search process, enabling candidates to search and apply for roles whenever, wherever, whether it’s at their desk during lunch, or on the train on the way home from work. In our report published last year, we found that 36% more teachers are using mobile devices to search for jobs compared with the previous year, with this trend likely to continue. So, making sure your ads are digestible and listed on a mobile optimised website, like the Eteach job board, is a must.
2. Simple application process
Teachers don’t have a lot of spare time – as former teachers ourselves, we can vouch for this. So, it’s no wonder they might be put off applying for a job at a school if the process is likely to significantly eat into their precious time. In our report, just under six in ten (57%) teachers cited long forms as the most arduous part of the application process.
Examine your process: are there any unnecessary questions you could cut out? With the growth in mobile job searches, could you get rid of the need to download forms or access them via a PC? Can you introduce a one-click apply function? If the candidate is among one of the 1.5m+ registered with Eteach, and you advertise with us, we have a ‘quick-apply’ function that instantly populates forms with information from their profile.
3. Interview feedback
Whether we’re waiting for a friend, a delivery or a applying for our dream job, we all like to be kept in the loop. For candidates, there’s nothing more disheartening that enduring radio silence following an interview. Having poured lots of time and effort into preparing for and attending the interview, if they’re unsuccessful, they deserve to be given constructive feedback that will help them in following job applications.
It’s also good practice to seek feedback from candidates. Ask them if they were happy with their experience, and if they think there are any areas you can improve on. This will help you fine-tune and perfect your hiring experience, which will bring endless benefits to your school as well as future applicants.
If you’d like to find out more about any of our recruitment services, get in contact with one of the Eteach experts today.
Sources:
https://talentadore.com/candidate-experience-statistics-know/
https://www.icims.co.uk/hiring-insights/for-employers/article-top-recruiting-statistics-for-2018
https://www.eteach.com/recruit/guides/teacher-recruitment-for-modern-education