SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Dec 16, 2015) - Talent Board, a non-profit organization focused on the promotion and data benchmark research of a quality candidate experience, today offers a preview of "Candidate Experience 2015," its upcoming research on the latest trends and best practices uncovered during the 2015 Candidate Experience (CandE) Awards.
"The goal of Talent Board and the CandE Awards is to elevate the importance of a stellar candidate experience by highlighting the recruiting process practices that work, those that don't and what can be improved," said Elaine Orler, Talent Board co-founder and chairman, and CEO of Talent Function. "Each year, we uncover the latest trends, problem areas and new strategies impacting the candidate experience for today's job seekers. We are pleased to share our findings with the larger community, helping employers across all industries and sizes learn what they can do to enhance the candidate experience, improve their employer brand and achieve greater hiring success."
Each year, Talent Board conducts its annual CandE Awards and associated research to gauge how employers manage the experience they provide their job candidates, from initial candidate attraction through to notification and onboarding. Based on 200 participating companies and a record-breaking number of responses from more than 130,000 of their job candidates, Talent Board has identified the tools, processes and strategies that most contribute to candidate experience excellence.
Although the full Candidate Experience 2015 report will be made available in early 2016, Talent Board has revealed some key findings, including:
- More informed candidates: More than 76 percent of candidates conduct their own research about the company and its positions before applying to a job, while 55 percent report having a relationship with an employer before prior to application.
- Showing progress: Less than half (43 percent) of candidates were able to view a progress indicator showing the percentage of the application completed, while two-thirds of CandE Award winners make use of such a tool to provide more visibility into the application process.
- Room for improvement: The 2015 results show an increase in the number of employers not contacting candidates post application. Overall, the percentage of organizations that acknowledge applications with a "thank you" correspondence dropped from 89.5 percent to 85.3 percent, while the percentage of recruiters required to respond dropped from 49.3 percent to 39.6 percent.
- Role of career sites: When engaging applicants prior to applying, the career site continues to be a critical differentiator; 74 percent of employers are currently investing in their career sites. At the same time, nearly half (46 percent) of employers utilize mobile career apps, compared to less than 20 percent in 2014.
- Impact of candidate experience: Highlighting the role that candidate experience plays in engagement and referrals, 70 percent of candidates said they are likely to apply to the same employers again, representing an increase over 2014. In addition, 70 percent reported being likely or extremely likely to refer a peer to the employers to which they applied. In both categories the majority of respondents were not hired.
"The data collected throughout the 2015 Candidate Experience Awards program provide a glimpse of the current state of the candidate experience," said Kevin Grossman, Talent Board member and vice president of the North American Candidate Experience Awards program. "Although there are some areas that need to be improved upon, the overall findings reveal just how important a positive candidate experience is for today's employers and the actions companies can take to continually improve. We look forward to sharing the full report in the coming weeks, along with in-depth insight on how employers can provide an award-winning candidate experience and a better overall recruiting process that impacts the business bottom line."
To pre-register to receive the Candidate Experience 2015 report, please visit: http://www.thetalentboard.org/cande-results-2015/.
About Talent Board
Talent Board is a non-profit organization focused on the elevation and promotion of a quality candidate experience. The organization, awards program and its sponsors are dedicated to recognizing the candidate experience offered by companies through the entire recruitment cycle and to forever changing the manner in which job candidates are treated. More information can be accessed at www.thetalentboard.org.