Candidate experience plays a crucial role in shaping your employer brand, and a strong employer brand attracts top talent while reducing hiring costs.

According to the CandE Benchmark Research Report: 

Candidate expectations across the candidate journey (pre-application to onboarding) will seemingly continue to increase. Unfortunately, many employers, big and smal,l across industries will continue to marginally deliver recruiting and hiring experiences around the world, leading to growing candidate resentment. 

This gap presents a valuable opportunity. Companies that focus on improving candidate experience in their hiring process won’t just attract top talent—they’ll also stand out from the competition.

Learn more about candidate experience, how it impacts business performance, and steps to achieve a better candidate experience in 2025 to attract top talent. 

Understanding candidate experience

Candidate experience is how the candidate has interacted with your organization during the recruiting and selection procedure. This interaction can be in emails, job applications, the interview process, or the selection stage.

Candidate experience is not just about hiring/rejecting someone—it’s about how they feel throughout the recruiting process, right from the job application to filling to the final decision. A positive candidate experience helps with:

• Attracting top talent
• Enhancing employer brand
• Increasing candidate engagement
• Improving candidate conversion
• Building a talent pipeline
• Positive word-of-mouth and referrals

Also, some of the most common factors that create a poor candidate experience include:

• A long, confusing job application 
• Lack of communication, delayed responses, and ghosting
• Lack of transparency
• Unstructured interviews
• No follow-up or feedback

The business impact of poor candidate experience

1. Damaged employer brand

Candidates who have experienced a poor recruiting experience will likely not apply again, refer others, or have any brand affinity, even as customers. 

In 2014, Virgin Media lost £4.4 million in revenue due to a poor candidate experience. This was because 18% of rejected candidates were Virgin customers, and 6% of them actually switched providers because of negative hiring experiences.

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Also, you must know that people talk. Candidates share their negative experiences online—on platforms like Glassdoor, LinkedIn, or other social media platforms. Apparently, 25% of unhappy candidates do so.

This bad press discourages future applicants from considering the company, reducing the talent pool. 

John Wilson, CEO of WilsonHCG, a recruitment outsourcing firm based in Tampa, Fla., said:

“Unfortunately, companies forget that the candidate experience should be treated like a consumer experience. If employers thought of it like that, candidate satisfaction would go up tremendously.”

2. Loss of top talent

Kevin Grossman, the Santa Cruz, California-based vice president of research at ERE Media, said:

“A positive candidate experience can improve how your employer brand is perceived in the labor market, decrease ghosting by top talent, and enhance your ability to fill gaps in your workforce.”

Top candidates have higher expectations and are more selective about the roles and companies they choose. If they experience a slow, frustrating hiring process, they will move on to other companies that treat them better.

Personalized communication, quick feedback, and a smooth application process differentiate your company from others. Candidates see this as a reflection of how the company values its employees.

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3. Increased hiring costs and loss of revenue

A weak candidate experience leads to higher talent acquisition costs in multiple ways. 

When candidates drop out of the process due to delays, poor communication, or a lack of transparency, companies spend more on job ads, recruiter hours, and interview rounds to replace them.

Also, a bad candidate experience attracts unqualified candidates, and the company bears many attrition costs along with project delays and reduced productivity, all leading to financial losses.

Hiring right and efficiently was the topic of our recent webinar held with two recruiting veterans, Lou Adler & Achuthanand Ravi. Both Lou and Achu shared expert strategies on AI-powered hiring and addressing critical gaps in recruitment for 2025.

Common issues with candidate experience

1. Poor communication

Many candidates apply for jobs but never hear back. Such ghosting leaves them unsure about their application status and makes them feel ignored. Such delayed communication also makes top talent disinterested in the position as they connect it with the company’s values. 

2. Long and complicated hiring process

Some companies unnecessarily lengthen the hiring process. Top candidates absolutely despite such process. 

When they have to fill out lengthy applications, attend multiple interviews, and wait weeks for a decision, it frustrates them and often leads them to withdraw their application. Sometimes worse happens, they accept offers from competitors who move faster.

3. Unprofessional interview experience

Unstructured interviews are frustrating for candidates and often result in scattered information, making it harder to assess them fairly or provide meaningful feedback. It’s also important for interviewers to be professional such as showing up on time and asking relevant questions.

4. Lack of personalization

Some companies treat all candidates the same. When candidates feel like they are just another number in the system, they tend to resonate less with the company. 

Companies that include generic interview questions, no specific feedback, and a lack of personal interaction in their recruiting process make candidates feel unvalued. 

5. Ignoring rejected candidates

Many companies fail to realize that rejected candidates can still be customers or future employees. When candidates don’t receive any feedback or follow-up, they feel disappointed. Some may even stop buying from or supporting the company.

Steps to implement for better candidate experience (as per stages)

Stage 1: Application—Optimize job description and application 

According to the SHRM report, 60 percent of candidates quit filling out job applications because they were too long or complex. 

Hence, to reduce friction, your job application should:

• Ask only for essential information at the initial stage to improve completion rates
• Have the save option so that candidates can easily come back and fill out the application quickly
• Keep your language and descriptions simple and jargon-free
• Be optimized for mobile devices (as over 60% of job seekers use their mobile devices to search for available positions)

And your job description must:

• Have a short and straightforward title to increase the number of clicks 
• Keep them short and direct (as JD under 300 words get 8.4% more responses)
• Be specific about your work requirements to attract qualified clients

• List a transparent salary range ( as 61% of applicants consider salary as the most important element of a JD)
• Give information about benefits, location, commute time, and employee reviews
• Be on a brand-aligned career page to establish employer branding 

Organizations are currently leaning towards GenAI to simplify the process of job application. 11% of talent acquisition pros are experiencing benefits with GAI, such as:

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With Gen AI, you do not need to invest manual efforts into creating the right job application and description. You can select the right ATS tool that offers efficient AI to help you in this stage. 

Stage 2: Screening—Be diligent, quick, and proactive

At this stage, organizations assess candidates' qualifications to identify the best candidates to move forward while also providing clear, objective reasoning to those not advancing.

To ensure a good candidate experience in this stage, follow these best practices:

• Let candidates know when they can expect updates after screening
• Automate emails to acknowledge applications and provide the next steps
• Use structured screening questions to assess skills and cultural fit
• Provide feedback after assessments, so candidates understand their performance
• Use AI for screening (as it can cut down the time spent on screening by up to 75%) and promote diversity and inclusion

Stage 3: Interview—Structure your interview screening process 

Your candidates deserve better. 

83% of candidates consider the interview experience important when considering a job offer. For a well-structured interview process, an organization must:

• Clarify the number of interviews in advance
• Standardize and personalize interview questions for each role
• Communicate and be transparent about the company’s culture (as 84% of candidates expect it)
• Give candidates enough time to ask questions
• Use the ATS tool for interview scheduling and automated email communication
• Take notes during the interview for fair assessment and accurate feedback

Stage 4: Offer—Personalize and be responsive

A well-executed offer presentation not only increases acceptance rates but also sets a positive tone for the candidate’s journey as a new employee. 

Here’s how to do it right. Start by highlighting key aspects like:

• Salary and compensation 
• Benefits such as health coverage, retirement plans, and paid leave
• Flexible work options or remote work possibilities
• Career growth opportunities and learning support

Other than the offerings:

• Schedule a call or video meeting to walk through the details and answer any questions
• Provide a reasonable deadline (typically 3-5 days) and encourage them to ask questions.
• Once the candidate accepts, maintain engagement before their official start date.

Common steps to implement for better candidate experience 

1. Maintain continuous communication with the candidates

Two in three candidates haven’t received consistent communication through the recruiting process.

Also, poor communication is the top reason why candidates voluntarily opt out of the recruitment process:

Follow these steps to set clear communication and save yourself from losing top talent:

• Acknowledge candidate applications as soon as they are received
• Quickly send a rejection email or interview invitation to keep them informed
• Provide clear instructions for any tests or assignments, along with a transparent timeline
• Show appreciation when candidates complete assessments or submit assignments
• Focus on post-application and assessment communication so that candidates feel valued
• Set up automated emails to maintain communication without manually managing campaigns 

2. Always send out feedback to establish a positive image

Providing timely feedback, whether positive or constructive, shows candidates that you respect their time and effort. 

Silence after an interview can leave candidates frustrated and disengaged, so sending out detailed and proper feedback is key to maintaining a positive reputation.

Even if candidates are not selected, make sure to offer insights into their strengths and areas for improvement to help them grow professionally. 

Candidates appreciate such gestures and are more likely to speak positively about your company, improving employer branding. 

3. Use Kula for AI & automation 

Kula is your AI-powered ATS platform that allows the organization to speed up its decisions more efficiently and accurately.  

Using Kula, recruiters can:

Recruiters can also access full-funnel analytics with Conversational AI, eliminating the need for multiple drills to find key insights that enhance the candidate experience.

‍Top talent deserves a top-tier hiring experience. Kula simplifies and elevates your hiring process. See for yourself—schedule a personalized demo tailored to your specific needs and goals.