We talk about them every year – the CandE-winning differentiators that lead to more job candidates who aren’t hired who are still willing to engage the businesses and brands again that they had applied to. In fact, we’re in the process of writing up this year’s CandE Benchmark Research to highlight those very things and more.
Those who are willing to engage businesses and brands again aren’t happy about their experiences when they’re dispositioned, declined, rejected – however you define it – at any point in the recruitment process. No, there’s only “happy” when they’re hired. That will always only be the only happy in the hiring process (besides the recruiters and hiring managers when they close the new hires).
For everyone else, the closest they’ll ever get to happy is if the candidates feel their experiences were positive and fair, because then they’re more likely to engage the businesses and brands again (applying again, referring others, being brand advocates, and being customers for B2C companies).
After our initial sentiment analysis of most of this year’s candidate comments from around the world, here those primary positive themes:
- Professionalism and Support from Recruitment Staff: Many candidates consistently praised recruiters and interviewers for being professional, friendly, helpful, respectful, and genuinely engaged.
- Efficient and Clear Application/Interview Process: Many candidates found the application process to be user-friendly, smooth, and easy. They appreciated prompt responses and clear expectations at various stages. Some specifically noted the convenience of online scheduling and video interviews for their flexibility.
- Positive Company/Work Environment Impression: Many candidates expressed a positive impression of the company’s culture, values, and work environment, describing it as welcoming, supportive, and a great place to work. They also appreciate efforts towards diversity and inclusion.
This from mostly not hired candidates who responded to our candidate experience surveys this year. Over 90% of the candidate responses year after year are from those who weren’t hired.
But for every positive theme there are more negative things. It’s rare in the recruiting process to have no negative sentiment in candidate feedback. Statistically speaking when you’re “rejecting” the majority of candidates because they’re not qualified at the application stage, or at any point in the process when they’re removed from consideration, there will always be a negative skew. No one likes to be told they’re not qualified or “right” for the position they were interested in.
So, on the negative side of the hiring process, you find these top themes:
- Poor or No Communication / Ghosting: This is a predominant and highly frustrating issue, with numerous candidates reporting a complete lack of response or follow-up after applying or interviewing. Many wish for feedback on why they were not selected, especially after investing time in applications and interviews.
- Lengthy and Slow Hiring Process: The protracted timelines from application submission to hearing back or receiving a decision are a frequent complaint. This often causes candidates to accept other offers or withdraw.
- AI/Automated Screening Issues: A significant concern is the perception that employers rely on AI technology for initial resume screening, leading to quick rejections of otherwise qualified candidates who may not match specific keywords.
This is the worst candidate market we’ve seen since the Great Recession. Candidate resentment – the percentage of candidates who said they had a very negative candidate experience with a specific employer and won’t engage the business and brand again – is the highest we’ve seen globally since the beginning of this program. And since 2022, candidate resentment is now:
- 25% higher in North America
- 55% higher in EMEA
- 100% higher in APAC
- 50% higher in Latin America
But, the highest rated CandE winners in our benchmark research, those employers who have near-to-above candidate experience ratings, have collectively over 60% less candidate resentment than all participating employers this year. Two-thirds of the CandE Winners are midsize to enterprise in size, too (2,500 employers to 10,000+).
Here are some reasons why (more to come when our research reports are completed):
- 80%+ of the highest rated CandE winners align recruiter performance with candidate experience.
- 80%+ of the highest rated midsize to large CandE winners conduct structured interviews across all job types.
- The highest rated CandE winners have 40% fewer candidates waiting to hear about next steps 2+ months after they applied (more communication and status updates).
- The highest rated CandE winners give 44% more candidates feedback than all employers in our benchmark research (always a driver of willingness to refer others).
Communication and feedback loops are continuous differentiators every year in our CandE Benchmark Research. It’s not just smaller employers that can deliver timely and consistent candidate communications to most if not all candidates. Larger employers are also optimizing their recruiting technology stacks to better automate communications with most candidates across the candidate journey, from high-volume hourly to salaried professionals to management and senior leadership positions.
No employer does it well all the time, but each year CandE Winners are more consistent delivering a quality candidate experience from pre-application to onboarding, which positively impacts their businesses and brands. And the biggest business and brand winners are those that sustain it over time, like Atlantic Health System, BASF, D2L, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, GALLO, Enterprise Mobility, Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, Humana, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Syneos Health, UST, WM, and many others.
You can learn more about participating in the 2026 CandE Benchmark Research and Awards Program here.
