What candidate experience is can be clearly illustrated by a common real-life example. Let’s imagine a situation: a candidate applies for your vacancy — and not just by sending a resume, but by recording a detailed video response to your questions, essentially creating a short professional self-presentation.
For some reason, you ignore this application. The candidate waits for a response for a week — disappointed, but still hopeful that you will get back to them. A week passes, and they see that the vacancy has been reposted — and their chances of hearing from you drop to zero.
So What Happens?
The candidate has a negative candidate experience — their overall interaction with your company. In this case, it’s likely not only the candidate who is affected, but your company as well. A candidate you overlooked may damage your reputation by sharing their negative experience of interacting with your company on social media.
At the same time, your company may be ethical and transparent — and you may have missed the application due to technical limitations of the system where the vacancy was posted.
Let’s take a closer look at what generally leads to a negative candidate experience. Then we will explore how to make it more comfortable — so that strong candidates are naturally drawn to your company.
At What Stages Does Negative Candidate Experience Arise?
It’s not only the candidate who may not suit you — you, as a potential employer, may not suit the candidate either. And this can happen at any stage of interaction: from the moment they open the job description to the point where they go through the interview.
Here are the main reasons why even a strong candidate may slip away and “drift off” into the sea of your competitors’ vacancies.
Overly Complicated Interaction with the Vacancy
Long and complex application forms take too much time and effort. A candidate may simply not want to work their way through 200–300 words of a job description just to understand whether the role is a good fit. Moreover, they may be discouraged by an excessive number of requirements.
If applying for a job also requires recording a video interview, candidates may have complaints about a service that “asks too much” of them. First, they have to download an app, then register by creating a login and password. People don’t want to make extra efforts — especially when they are focused on presenting themselves well during the interview, both professionally and personally.
Waiting Too Long — or Waiting in Vain
When a candidate clicks the “Apply” button, they experience a whole rush of emotions — hope, the excitement of the search, and a touch of anxiety. When they don’t receive a response from the employer for a long time, it can feel as if that wave washes over them, knocking them off their feet.
Therefore, even an automated response such as “Your application has been received and you will hear back from us soon” is perceived better than complete silence.
Most candidates believe that if an employer is not ready to consider their application, it is better to receive a rejection right away rather than remain stuck in uncertainty. At the same time, quick feedback creates a positive impression of the employer just as quickly.
On average, if candidates wait more than three days for a response, the vacancy loses its appeal for them. Only a small number of candidates are willing to wait as long as a week.
Stressful and Uncomfortable Interview Experience
The interview itself can become a serious source of stress. During a phone or live video interview, a candidate may feel psychological discomfort — for example, if the interviewer interrupts, applies pressure, uses sarcasm, or asks personal questions.
A candidate may also lose motivation if the format of the initial interview does not meet their expectations. They may expect an introductory conversation, but instead, during the very first call, the employer starts testing them — asking tricky questions or offering tasks that check their professional knowledge. Such a “stress test” is often perceived as a lack of respect.
And what about stress interviews?
Please keep in mind that comfort is not about unnecessary softness or avoiding difficult topics, but about respectful communication. It is entirely possible to evaluate how a candidate responds to stress while ensuring the process does not become negative or discouraging.
At first glance, asynchronous video interviews — where candidates record answers to pre-prepared questions — may seem like the most comfortable format. However, issues can arise here as well: for example, an inconvenient format, time limits, or poor technical setup. The candidate should feel comfortable at every stage.
Candidate Experience Best Practices
Of course, you want to hire a great specialist as quickly as possible. And such candidates are very demanding when it comes to how an employer behaves — before the interview, during it, and after it, when it is time to provide feedback.
How can you ensure that your potential employee develops a professional affinity toward your company from the very beginning?
Make the Start of Communication as Convenient as Possible
Let the candidate feel trust in your company from the very first interaction: when they see that the job description is written in an engaging way and resonates with their achievements and expectations, and when they understand that completing a video interview is genuinely convenient.
If you use asynchronous video interview services, try to remove “barriers to entry.” It is better to choose a browser-based solution that does not require downloading an application. The candidate should be able to use the interview service without registration and from a mobile device.
Your ideal candidate may be on the move right now, browsing vacancies and ready to apply from their smartphone. In this case, a digital recruitment platform such as VideoApply, which works on any device, can make the process much easier.
Speed Up Your Response to Applications
After putting in effort and going through a phone or video interview — one they prepared for and where they had to impress you by demonstrating not only their professional skills, but also their ability to react quickly to unexpected questions and make fast decisions — a candidate naturally expects feedback.
Make it a rule to respond to candidates within 48–72 hours. In the meantime, candidates who have completed an initial screening interview should receive an automated message informing them that they will hear back from you soon.
Reduce Stress During the Interview Process
Stressful questions are normal, but a stressful interview environment is not. If you conduct a live initial interview, maintain a friendly tone, show respect to the candidate, and create an atmosphere where they feel comfortable — because the same sense of confidence will be reflected in their professional decisions if they become your employee.
If a candidate is going through an asynchronous video interview, they should clearly understand what to expect: how long the process will take, how many questions they will be asked, and whether they will have the opportunity to re-record their answers if they are not satisfied with the result.
It is better to choose a recruitment service that allows an unlimited number of recording attempts, such as VideoApply. This reduces stress and helps the candidate present themselves in the best possible way — offering a stronger and more effective self-presentation.
Ensure Two-Way Feedback
For both sides — the candidate and the employer — to be fully satisfied with the initial interaction, feedback is needed from both.
On your side, this may include automated notifications. Once the candidate’s video interview has been reviewed, they can receive a system message. After that, their status should be updated — from “under review” to “invited to the next stage.”
Of course, if you are genuinely interested in a candidate, it is better to contact them personally — to support them and reinforce your interest through direct candidate communication.
When the candidate is just a step away from becoming your colleague, ask them how they perceived the hiring process: whether everything was clear, fair, and comfortable. You can prepare a short survey for this purpose.
This way, you will gain valuable feedback not only on how your automated system works, but also on how effective your overall hiring process is — both on a “system” level and a “human” level. At the same time, you demonstrate respect for the professional.
Candidate Experience Checklist
Before posting your vacancy, take a moment to check whether the process is convenient for the candidate at every stage of interaction.
Before activating your job posting, make sure that candidates can apply without registration and from any device, regardless of the operating system.
During the initial hiring process, ensure that candidate accounts function properly, that enough time is provided for preparation before recording (ideally 30–60 seconds), and that the option to re-record a video self-presentation works smoothly.
After the interview, the candidate should receive feedback, so make sure that the automatic response feature for submitted recordings is enabled.
Optimize the hiring process in your company. Let candidate experience examples become examples of your best practices in communication with future employees.
