Tech professionals are looking for more than competitive salaries when applying for jobs. In fact, 70% of candidates say they would decline a job offer from a company with a bad corporate culture or reputation, even with a pay increase. Explore proven tech recruiter engagement strategies to elevate the candidate experience below.
Today’s Tech Candidate Journey
Reports indicate an 18% increase in unemployed tech professionals who are actively searching for jobs. However, competition for specialized talent persists. Here’s the role each stage of the tech candidate journey plays in attracting and retaining top talent:
- Awareness: Candidates become aware of the company through job postings, social media or other marketing efforts during this stage. A total of 90% of tech professionals say employer branding impacts their job decisions.
- Consideration: Candidates research the company and read employee reviews in the consideration stage.
- Interest and application: It’s essential to make this step as easy as possible. Seventy-one percent of tech professionals considering changing jobs submit just one or two applications.
- Selection and interview: The interview process for tech candidates usually includes technical assessments and coding challenges.
- Offer and onboarding: The final stage of the candidate journey is when the recruiter extends a job offer and begins onboarding.
What to Include in a Tech Candidate Journey Map
Here’s how to create a tech candidate journey map.
Awareness
Concentrate on developing a strong employer brand, considering how candidates first experience your company. They may find your business through social media, online job postings or industry events. Review your company website to ensure it aligns with the content you’re publishing on other platforms. Showcase your company culture in a positive light, featuring employee testimonials and DEI initiatives.
Consideration
Make it easy for candidates to learn about your company. Share case studies and behind-the-scenes footage of the workplace to help potential hires envision themselves on your team. Provide the information candidates need in your job posts so they can determine whether they would fit the role. Include:
- Salary range
- Perks and benefits
- Job duties
- Education requirements
- Experience requirements
Application
A total of 33% of job seekers abandon time-consuming applications. Keep your hiring process simple. Choose one job portal to streamline talent acquisition. Ensure it’s mobile-friendly, and use an applicant tracking system for initial screenings. To keep candidates informed, set up automated status updates and email confirmations.
Interview
On average, recruiters conduct 12 interviews for every job offer they extend. Creating a structured interview process can reduce your time-to-hire. Use scheduling software, such as Calendly, to simplify scheduling candidate interviews. After each interview, send a follow-up within 48 hours to explain the next steps. Providing a clear timeline and communicating with candidates throughout the interview stage keeps them engaged.
Offer
About 47% of candidates expect salary transparency before applying for a new role, so when it’s time to make an offer, there should already be a mutual understanding. Once you’ve decided on your new team members, extend an offer as soon as possible. Delaying a decision can result in losing top candidates. In addition to providing a competitive salary, highlight remote work options, company perks and benefits to create a compelling offer.
Onboarding
Once your new hire accepts their offer letter, send a welcome email and orientation schedule. This should give them a clear picture of their first few weeks at your company. Establish a mentorship program. Pair new hires with experienced team members to help them transition. It’s also advantageous to collect feedback throughout the onboarding process so you can improve your hiring process. Use surveys and early performance check-ins to gauge how new hires are doing.
Creating Personalized Touchpoints for Tech Candidates
Here are some strategies to personalize your candidate outreach and interactions throughout recruitment.
Tailor Job Descriptions
Instead of using a boilerplate description, tailor each job posting based on job duties and candidate expectations to make it more compelling. Highlight the specific skills and technologies applicants must be familiar with to attract eligible candidates. Use inclusive language to diversify your candidate pool. Then, use AI-powered tools to screen and match top tech candidates based on each role’s requirements. Almost 70% of businesses use AI-powered applicant tracking systems to accelerate the initial review process.
Boost Engagement with AI-Powered Chatbots
About 81% of companies already use AI in their hiring process. Chatbots can respond to candidates 24/7 and quickly provide them with the information they need without wasting your valuable time. Train an AI-powered chatbot to answer the most common questions. Then, program the chatbot to personalize responses based on each candidate’s skills and interests. Always offer an option to connect with a human recruiter for complex queries to balance automation and personalization.
Incorporate Coding Challenges and Assessments
Offer customized coding challenges for each role instead of generic tests to assess skills accurately. Use real-world problem-solving scenarios to make assessments more engaging. Leverage automated scoring tools to provide immediate feedback and keep candidates informed.
Offer Personalized Feedback
Up to 36% of candidates decline offers because of poor interview experiences. To leave a positive impression, provide meaningful updates throughout the recruitment process. Automate postinterview feedback for unsuccessful candidates to save time and improve transparency. Frequent communication can reduce dropoffs and offer rejections. As other candidates advance, offer constructive insights that reinforce your company values.
Create Immersive Experiences
As many as 83% of tech candidates prioritize company culture. Showcase your work environment through virtual office tours to show them how your company operates. While tools such as Zoom can work well, consider exploring virtual reality platforms to create a fully immersive candidate experience in tech recruitment. You can also schedule informal team meet and greets to help candidates determine whether they would be a good fit.
Supercharge Your Tech Candidate Experience with Dice
Now that you know how to create a well-crafted candidate journey map, here are some of the most important steps:
- Prioritize your employer brand to attract more tech candidates in the awareness and consideration stages.
- Tailor your job postings to highlight specific skills and career growth opportunities.
- Balance AI chatbots and automation with human touchpoints to create a personalized tech recruitment process.
- Use candidate surveys and data to refine your recruitment strategy.
Need to attract skilled tech talent fast? Find out how Dice can help.
Previous Post
