Every interview is a two-way route of effective learning and new insights. We say this because both the interviewer and the interviewee have something to take back home. One understands where he stands, his qualities that impress/don’t impress the recruiters, and what to do to perform better.
On the other hand, a recruiter will get an idea as to what the interviewee knows about the company and how such a public opinion can be transformed into useful information for betterment. This applies to employees who are already working with the company as well.
The best way to get such input is to conduct a candidate experience survey. However, this will have the best use when the right questions are posed. This article will give you a candidate experience questionnaire thanks to which you will get an idea as to what sort of questions must be posed.
The Importance of Customer Experience
Emotions have a strong influence on how people perceive brands – this can be positive or negative.
Let us understand this better with an anecdote.
Sarah is a mother of two children. In her childhood, she used to love playing with dolls from a specific manufacturer. She used to adore the brand so much that the dolls from that company used to be all over her room. Even after two decades, she still buys them for her children.
One day, she saw a hoarding that said that the company was hiring for an open position. Sarah’s education and competencies correctly match the role. She immediately mailed her CV/Resume, informed her family, and eagerly waited for a reply.
She didn’t receive any information from the other end for almost a month.
And then they mail her that her CV is a right fit and they will contact her shortly.
But the damage is already done. Sarah is slowly losing interest and she can’t afford to not apply for other jobs. She has no idea what she’ll be facing during the interview process either.
Finally, HR calls and explains a job position that is nowhere close to what was mentioned in the job description. Sarah is perplexed and decides to let go of the position. Of course, she was very disappointed and her opinion about the company has taken a different turn by now.
Will she still buy the dolls for her kids? Yes, because they also love them. But will she remain an ardent evangelist?
Most probably, Not.
Here customer experience is strongly influenced by the emotions of a person. Once those associated emotions wavered, the way Sarah perceived and spoke for the brand changed. It is a pile-up of several experiences that will determine what someone thinks of a brand. That’s why it becomes very important to give positive experiences to get the best reviews. This is very vital for both brand and labor markets.
Things to remember before sending the Candidate Experience Survey
First and foremost, the HR team must give the right experience to the people who attended the interview.
Be very respectful and pay attention to them. Even simple nods and smiles will make a great difference. Listen to what they have to say, interact and be professional. Lastly, if they are not selected, let them know where they fell short.
This kind of positive experience will create a good impression of the company and they’d come back again (probably) to join your team!
And of course, the mouth publicity is going to be terrific!
Who should ideally complete the Candidate Experience survey?
Only the ones who attended the interview? The individuals who were rejected? Or maybe the lucky ones who got selected?
The answer to all the above questions is a solid ‘NO’.
It should be ALL of them.
If you ask the ones who were selected, they’d have all the praises in the world for the company. Their judgment is clouded by the fact that they achieved what they came for.
For those who are awaiting results, they’d say all the positive things in the hope that they’ll hear the good news.
Lastly, the rejected individuals will have extreme statements to make of obvious reasons.
That is why the candidate experience survey needs to be filled by all of them and this can be done by sending the template on the email that they mentioned on the CV. You will get a wider insight and this is much more valuable than focussing on a particular group only.
When to send the Candidate experience survey?
The best timing will bring out optimum results. You should know when to take the reviews to see how satisfied someone is with the company.
Can you ask someone to judge the taste of lasagna before they even bite into it?
Similarly, the survey has to be sent to these individuals after the recruitment process is done. However, as we had discussed earlier, emotions have a strong influence on customer experience. Irrespective of being hired or not being hired, they must be given some cooling time to make sure their emotions don’t overpower their judgment.
Ideally, wait 48 hours before you send them a follow-up email with the questionnaire or link to the Candidate experience survey.
Also, remember to mention the survey during the interview so that they won’t think the email is just another spam mail.
The Questions to ask in a Candidate Experience Survey
First and foremost, you need to inform the candidates why you are conducting a survey. Otherwise, they’ll not know why the HR team is doing the activity and this can leave a negative impression.
Also, don’t forget to mention that the survey will be ANONYMOUS!
Nobody wants to give an honest opinion when they know that the other side is aware of their identity.
Most of the questions on the survey should focus on the performance of the interviewing team and the overall experience of the candidate from the time of application to the end of the interview. The questions must be framed accordingly.
We will give you a sample questionnaire in the later sections. However, here are some questions that are generally posed. Please note that there are no standard questions in a Candidate Experience Survey. They can differ from company to company, depending upon what you want to find out from your respective candidates.
Here’s what you can include –
- How did You find the pace of the interview process?
- How clear were the HR team while explaining the requirements of the job position?
- How far do you think the job description given in the work offer matches the input given by the HR team?
- How quickly did you receive the result of your interview?
- According to your opinion, how should we improve our hiring process?
Please remember that the whole point of conducting the survey is to include positive changes in the hiring process. You must collect the opinions regularly and try to incorporate the changes wherever possible, without disturbing the essence of the hiring process.
The Free Questionnaire for Candidate Experience Survey
We deliver what we promise! Here’s how you can frame your questionnaire and give it a good start. You can copy and paste this introduction and questions or simply use the Candidate Experience Survey template prepared by Startquestion’s experts.
Greetings, (Name)!
We loved to have you with us during the interview process! Thank you for taking your precious time out and attending the interview.
Our Candidate interview experience is of utmost value to us. We have a short survey for you, hardly 3-4 minutes, to understand how you found our recruitment process.
The survey is going to remain anonymous and we would be using the input to improve our hiring process.
Thank you in advance!
- When did you receive the call from the HR team after sending your CV?
- When did the recruitment process end?
- Which position did you apply for – Department and post?
- How did you find out about the job opening?
- On a scale of 10, how likely it is that you would recommend our company to your family, friends, and acquaintances?
- How would you evaluate our HR partner and how did they make the process easier/harder for you?
- What impressed you the most in the entire process?
- If something went wrong, what do you think we should rectify and how do you think we can improve?
These are some of the most impactful questions that you can mention in your surveys. Since it is anonymous, most often than not, you will get honest opinions that will be of great value to your team!
Put theory into practice – try out Startquestion and Interviewer AI Integration
You surely know that they are many ways of hiring people- by having your HR department; by outsourcing this job to an external recruiting agency. You can also use handy software that will help you make the recruitment process very easy and efficient.
One such software is Interviewer.AI. With the use of artificial intelligence, it analyzes the most significant, both psychological and technical factors of potential candidates. Later it suggests who to invite to the next stage of the recruitment (in the form of a video interview).
Thanks to Zapier integrations, it is very easy to connect software like Interviewer.AI with online surveys to send hiring questionnaires automatically. It is possible to set up an integration that will send candidate experience surveys to job seekers once their recruitment process is over, with absolutely no coding skills or help from the IT department.
