“True user experience goes far beyond giving customers what they say they want, or providing checklist features. “ –Nielsen Norman Group
User Experience (UX) is the practice of creating experiences for users to enhance their interactions with a company, idea, or product. In other words, it’s what makes consumers love the things they consume. It’s where #teamiphone and #teamAndroid originate from. It’s also what keeps people coming back for more. And in the recruiting world, it’s what helps maintain a steady stream of clients and prospects knocking at your door. So how does Kinetix do this? Let’s break it down…
CREDIBLE
TalentDNA is Kinetix’s secret sauce in ensuring that we have a solid understanding of our candidates before introducing them to a client or company. We use personality and work ethic metrics to evaluate where candidates fall within a company’s culture. Though each candidate has a unique DNA, we’ve found certain roles attract individuals with similar evaluation results. Our recruiters build trust with clients by identifying their needs, putting them at the forefront and only submitting candidates who we believe fit the requirements of the position and the company culture with a tool called Area Code Hiring. It also helps that our leaders have repeatedly established their authority in the recruiting space; we’re led by people who know the game.
VALUABLE
Part of what makes the experience of being placed through Kinetix so memorable is the effort that our recruitment marketing team takes in creating unique job descriptions. Job descriptions should be tailored to the type of person you are trying to attract to fill the position, and should correctly identify what a candidate can expect in the role. In a 2013 study, CareerBuilder found that 43% of candidates found out during the interview that the job didn’t match what was written in the job ad. Crazy right? If nothing else, remember that a good candidate experience does not waste anyone’s time. Your job descriptions should be a time-saving value add.
DESIRABLE
We believe it is a necessity for our recruiters to not just talk to candidates but to engage with them on a personal level—to help them reach their goals. We communicate with them through every part of the process, providing assurance and serving as a knowledge base for any questions they might have. Our recruiters work closely with hiring managers to solidify all position details— meaning we eliminate that pesky gray area. While we do strive to fill positions quickly (who doesn’t!), we won’t fill a position unless we believe in its long-term success for our candidate and client. It’s also important for us to reach out to candidates if they were not placed in a role, that way we can continue to foster the feeling that our recruiters have got their back.
USABLE
We can’t stress this enough­: it’s important to have a careers site that even the most digitally challenged user can navigate without difficulty. Your “Apply Now” button should be big, bold, and beautiful—easy to notice and not hidden. The application process should have clearly written instructions, and not be clouded with unnecessary text or links. Keep it simple, but updated with fresh content. Filled positions should be taken down from your postings ASAP. You do not want to lose applicants to technical difficulties.
ACCESSIBLE
We build relationships with our clients so that they know they can come to us first when they have a need. At the start of a contract, we put versatile teams together to respond to each facet of a company’s need. In fact, we do that with everyone we interact with: candidates, hiring managers, etc. Sometimes just knowing that someone will be able to help you is all it takes to create a good user experience.
FINDABLE
As a company, you shouldn’t be afraid to stand out. The application process can be a blur for candidates, particularly when their inboxes are being flooded with a bunch of messages from other recruiters or organizations. It’s important that you have a strong brand identity (and yes, this goes well beyond having bold colors). Your company should go above and beyond to engage candidates on digital platforms through email marketing, video and audio, social media campaigns—basically, whatever you can find to draw talent into your pool. Findable = hard to miss.
USEFUL
Just because a candidate does not get placed for a position, does not mean that they shouldn’t be able to (read: want) come back to your job postings for a new opportunity. It’s a double-edged sword here: you want candidates to stay within your pool, especially if they’d be a better fit elsewhere, but you don’t want any dead fish in your water. A great way to make sure the candidate experience benefits you is to do occasional sweeps of your candidates to make sure that their goals still align with the type of positions you are trying to fill. For instance, if you have a candidate in your pool who is only open to positions in Denver, and you place exclusively in Phoenix, it might not be beneficial to keep them in your pool: pass them along!
It’s a large leap to assume that these seven factors that contribute to a good recruiting user experience can be accomplished in a day. It’s going to take time, but once you find a good mold for your company, you’ll see the jobs start to place themselves! And if you ever need a partner to help you accomplish your goals; we’re just a phone call away.