“Candidate Experience” - How do recruiters get more recognition from programmers?
In the IT market, where companies are still fighting for the best candidates, it is particularly important to make a positive impression on applicants during the application process. So how do you build a positive candidate experience in IT? Below are some tips on how to get more developer recognition.
Knowledge of the industry and position
Developers expect recruiters to know the specifics of their industry and thus perfectly understand the needs. Of course, the IT specialist prefers to be able to communicate with a technical contact person. However, a recruiter with a good knowledge of the various programming concepts will also make a good impression on developers. Technical knowledge will not only help you to converse adequately with programmers, but also to address the candidates appropriately.
In addition, it is your responsibility to know the exact requirements for a specific position. In the case of developers, information about the project, the technologies used and the career paths will be important.
A good first impression
As the saying goes, “first impressions are the most important”. How do you turn a job-seeking developer into a potential applicant? First, the message or message must be professionally prepared. An ad for developers, for example, should contain all job-related information such as tech stack, projects, working methods, equipment, benefits, application process and much more.
Interesting approach to applicants
In order for you to be better noticed by potential applicants, you need to stand out from the competition. HR specialists are increasingly opting for unconventional recruitment methods that offer the candidate a cool and exciting experience. Recently, gamification, which combines recruiting and pleasure, is becoming increasingly popular in IT. In return, you can more easily check the skills of candidates.
Respect and individual approach to candidates
The HR department's job is to make every candidate feel special, even if the candidate may not end up being hired. I've heard many times in conversations with developers that recruiters mix up the names or even the gender of the candidates in the context of "copy-paste" mass messages. Of course, this is highly unprofessional, as it spoils the chance of a positive “candidate experience”.
Specific, specific and more specific
There are questions that particularly irritate candidates, such as: "Please tell us something about yourself." Grrr! You could also say right away, "I don't know what to ask, but it's better than staying silent," one of our users tells us. If you want to make a good impression on the candidate, try asking specific questions, primarily related to the job, work experience, skills, etc. Remember, developers don't want to waste their time!
Fast and efficient application
Speaking of the time factor, it must be mentioned that every person looking for a job wants to complete the application process as quickly as possible. The task of the HR department should therefore be to do everything possible to optimize the process so that the user can apply quickly and easily, for example on "devjobs".
Also, some settings take longer than they should. This can quickly lead to the candidate losing interest and accepting another offer in the meantime. For this reason, it is particularly important for programmers to design the recruitment process for speed. So plan the whole process in advance and make your candidates familiar with the schedule as well.
Meeting deadlines
When sharing your recruiting schedule with your candidates, they need to be careful to meet the agreed deadlines. There's no denying that a delay in the application process really annoys IT professionals. This shows the lack of professionalism of the whole company and has a negative impact on building a positive candidate experience.
Constructive feedback
Each candidate expects a statement about the completed application process. Therefore, feedback is an extremely important part of leaving a positive image as an employer. So if you don't want to alienate applicants who have not been offered a job, you should leave a few words as constructive feedback.
