Responding to Each and Every Candidate Pays Business Dividends

Every year during our CandE Benchmark Research Program, I tell participating employers that on average they’ll see two major candidate-experience rating skews in their data:

1. There will be a negative rating skew for those who didn’t get hired.
2. And there will be a positive rating skew for those who did get hired (the only happy “customers” in the recruiting equation).

Naturally. Of course, those skews will vary each year by industry, company size, hiring volume, recruiting team structure, and so much more. But, those are the rating skews. 

I also remind them no matter what kind of recruiting and hiring experience they deliver, there will always be a base of negative candidate sentiment for those who apply and are dispositioned without being screened or interviewed. Because, according to the recruiting team, and/or the recruiting tech, they’re not qualified for the roles they applied for.

And there will always be candidate resentment. Those candidates who tell us every year that they won’t do anything again with an employer due to a perceived poor candidate experience. 

But that doesn’t mean employers shouldn’t give all applicants/candidates closure – telling them that they’re no longer being considered. I don’t know of any employer that gives closure to 100% of all applicants, but most of those we’ve worked with tell us that they do try to respond to every single candidate – with or without technology.

The two most important, and basic, notifications employers should give all job applicants are:

1. Acknowledgement: Acknowledge the job application and candidate’s interest.
2. Closure: Tell the job applicant they’re no longer being considered.

Email deliverability may be more difficult than ever due to compliance requirements, spam filters, and more, but every applicant should get closure. CandE Winners on average – those employers that participate in our benchmark research with near-to-above average candidate experience ratings – disposition applicants more often than all other employers within 1-2 weeks. That’s not the only thing they’re doing more consistently across the candidate journey to have high ratings, but that’s where it all starts – when candidates research and then apply. You can read more about those differentiators in our CandE research and articles. 

Recently, the CXR Foundation published version 2.0 of the Baseline Standard for Applicant Closure. It’s a working document, developed by their Foundation’s Industry Standards Committee, that says out loud what most of us already believe: every applicant deserves to be told when they’re no longer under consideration. All of them. Not just the ones who interviewed. Not just the ones we felt bad about ignoring. All of them. 

We agree. You should check it out and add your name to this standard. Gerry Crispin, the co-founder of CXR, and one of the co-founders of the Talent Board, the “origin story” of the CandE Benchmark Research Program that I still run (now part of Survale), has always been a staunch supporter of improving the candidate experience across the candidate journey. 

And so are we. We’ve got 15 years of benchmarking data that shows the candidate-experience impact on businesses and brands big and small across industries around the world. 

Even after immersing myself in our data year after year, I’m still surprised by what I find. The good news is that since 2023, candidates across job types have been waiting less to receive next steps after applying. But, candidate resentment still remains stubbornly high, most like to do with the overall candidate market the past few years.

For applicants still waiting on next steps after 1-2+ months:

• Since 2023, hourly candidates who said they didn’t hear back after 1-2+ months after applying decreased 45%, but resentment increased 55%.
• Since 2023, professional candidates who said they didn’t hear back after 1-2+ months after applying decreased 53%, and resentment decreased somewhat, but has remained nearly 20% (1 in 5 candidates).
• Since 2023, management / senior leadership candidates who said they didn’t hear back after 1-2+ months after applying decreased 45%, but resentment has remained nearly 30% (nearly 1 in 3 candidates).

For applicants who were told they were no longer being considered after 1-2+ months:

• Since 2023, hourly candidates who were told they were no longer considered after 1-2+ months decreased 45%, but resentment increased 29%.
• Since 2023, professional candidates who were told they were no longer considered after 1-2+ months decreased 42%, but resentment increased 22%.
• Since 2023, management / senior leadership candidates who were told they were no longer considered after 1-2+ months decreased 34%, but resentment has remained nearly 30%.

For applicants who were told they were no longer being considered after 1 week:

• Since 2023, hourly candidates who were told they were no longer considered after 1 week increased 192%, but resentment increased 38%.
• Since 2023, professional candidates who were told they were no longer considered after 1 week increased 200%, and resentment decreased 11% (still high at 24%).
• Since 2023, management / senior leadership candidates who were told they were no longer considered after 1 week increased 100%, but resentment increased 26%.

And lastly, for candidates who said that during their most recent job search they were researching and applying for jobs for 4-6+ months:

• Since 2023, hourly candidates who said they researched and applied for jobs for 4-6+ months increased 75%, and resentment increased 54%
• Since 2023, professional candidates who said they researched and applied for jobs for 4-6+ months increased 21% (I thought that would be higher), and resentment was the same at 21%.
• Since 2023, management / senior leadership candidates who said they researched and applied for jobs for 4-6+ months increased 32%, and resentment was the same at 22%.

So overall, our data shows that employers are moving in the right direction with dispositioning applicants, but I’d argue that the rough “low hire, low fire” market continues to drive greater resentment. For many midsized to global enterprise employers, the number of applications have become untenable, which is why more are experimenting with AI screening and more automated disposition emails. 

Regardless of how employers are reviewing applicants and responding, you can and should respond to each and every one, and you should add your name to the CXR standard. The resentment base will be tough to move in the next year or more, but that same timely and consistent candidate communication practice across the candidate journey will pay business dividends in referrals, brand advocacy, and even potential customers. We’ve got 15 years of data to prove it; applicants’ willingness to refer others increased 27% since 2023.